Katie Noonan on hurting, healing and heading to Logan
From a punctured lung to personal heartbreak, there are some very confronting reasons as to why it will be a special performance from the talented Katie Noonan when she takes her seat at the piano on Saturday, 5 July at Kingston Butter Factory.
The 5-time ARIA Award-winning singer and songwriter with a career spanning 29 albums is not one to shy away from sharing a deeply challenging journey back to live performances, which only adds to the meaning and celebration for the Logan audience at her upcoming show in the Butterbox Theatre.
‘I’m a very open, honest book, probably to my detriment, but no, that’s who I am and that’s why my songs are how they are,’ Katie says, as she chats about how she’s looking forward to performing in Logan soon.
She admires Logan for its vibrant, multicultural community … and she also visited recently for a high tea at the Devon Pixies café, in the Kingston Butter Factory Cultural Precinct.
‘I took my mum there for Valentine’s Day because it was her first as a single woman (Katie’s father passed away last year) and it’s a beautiful space … and we stuffed ourselves silly,’ she laughs.
Katie then explains it was also her first time with no Valentine, with her single status adding to the challenges she’s overcoming – becoming a divorcee, when she thought her love would last forever like the wonderful relationship between her parents that endured for 56 years.
‘I never thought I would be a divorcee and I will be at some point this year,’ Katie says.
‘And you know, it’s an amazing club of fabulous women. Even though I didn’t want to join this club and I never thought I would.
‘So that’s been very shocking and very full on. These things are messy and tricky and stressful and sad and I’m most worried about my children, but although I’m still in the tunnel, now I really am seeing the light.’
Doing what she does best as a performer is a cathartic experience for Katie, who is enjoying preparing an entertaining set for her live concert. She promises a handpicked selection of her most beloved songs, and tributes to some of her favourite artists.
She’s also excited to announce the Logan concert will play the special role of launching an exclusive preview of her brand new material off her upcoming release.
‘Now I’m embracing where I am at in my life right now and as I do, these emotions come out in songs, which I will be sharing … and some very, very new songs at this solo, intimate show,’ Katie says.
Katie is big on the value of intimacy with her audience – whether she’s on stage or in the online arena of social media.
‘I was never interested in social media whatsoever, but 15 years ago, Sony were like, well, this is happening, and you have to embrace it. And I was like, oh well, then I will embrace this and I will make sure I create a really caring, open, honest, little community, which is what I feel I have done over the years.
‘And actually, in that way, I discovered how many people have had a pneumothorax.’
That’s the medical term for her accidental punctured lung through a medical procedure, and luckily for Katie, her daily x-rays showed good signs.
‘Luckily my lungs are very, very strong, obviously, so I healed quicker than most I would imagine, but I did take it as a sign of a real turning point in my mental health,’ she explains.
‘It was like, well, you can choose to be a “poor me” and fall into a sort of deeper patch, or really use this as a sign from the universe to look after yourself and to focus on your self-care and your self-love and all these things that have been put on the backburner while you’ve been a full-time working mum.
‘Providing for a family of 4 financially on my own, has been an extraordinary pressure, so I’ve taken it as a really wonderful thing.’
Despite such a confronting health issue for a singer, Katie can still joke about the fact she won’t be going deep-sea diving any time soon.
Not that she’d have the time anyway. Aside from preparing for her Logan show and then a national tour later in the year, Katie’s AVÉ – Australian Vocal Ensemble project is full steam ahead.
‘Essentially, we’re a new a cappella vocal quartet, dedicated to celebrating and championing Australian stories and sounds. We work with Australian poets and we commission the finest Australian composers to set words to music – I like to keep the composers a combination of emerging and very well established, national names,’ she elaborates.
‘Our next body of work, which we’re premiering in Perth in a month, is Tim Winton’s text, which was with WA composers. Then we are returning to Queensland with the author Trent Dalton and songs that he wrote in a body of work titled The Rosewood Line – Lyrics written between 2000-2006 on Queensland Rail trains for songs I never wrote for bands that never existed.
‘So I’ve been working with my dear old friend, Trent, who gifted me 156 pages of unpublished lyrics.
‘For me, it’s been really healing because a lot of the poems are about falling in love with his wife Fiona, and anyone who’s read Trent’s book Boy Swallows Universe, or seen the show, knows about that love affair.
‘So it was nice to connect with that inner child and magic of new love and the limitless possibilities of love – it was nice to tap back into that joy and youthful exuberance. So I’ll be presenting some of those songs in my performance at Logan, which are very, very new.’
Concert-goers will have an extra bonus of 2 special guests, Katie says.
Firstly, her support act Jack Carty – one of Katie’s favourite Australian singer-songwriters who she has co-written with – will perform some duets with Katie.
The second surprise appearance on stage will be Sassy, Katie’s ageing staffy, who was adopted as a puppy.
‘She is an elderly lady now at age 12! I’ll bring her to the gig and I’m hoping she’ll join me on stage and have a snooze,’ Katie says with a laugh.
It’s all part of the appeal of Katie’s personable performance.
‘My solo shows are super relaxed. I keep them very interactive and, you know, it’s just you and me like in your lounge room, basically.’
Now it’s just up to Logan fans to make Katie and her guests feel right at home.
For details and tickets to Katie Noonan – An Intimate Live Performance on 5 July, go to: Katie Noonan – LoganARTS
By Rachel Syers