Former Warrnambool songwriter wins national award

Published in The Warrnambool Standard March 1st 2021

Former Warrnambool songwriter, entertainer and ventriloquist Eric Read's latest comedy songwriting efforts have been recognised with a national award. Read won Capital Country Music Association's 2021 national lyricist of the year award for his comedy song Downsizing, which came to fruition during the COVID lockdown of March/April 2020. While the idea for the song came from stories from a few mates who had downsized their homes, it was written in an airport departure lounge last February and recorded during the lockdown. Six of Read's songs, including Granny's Grave, are in the finals of the Australian Songwriters Association 2021 awards, along with Proud to be an Anzac (The Ballad of Billy Torrance), written by his wife Jacinta, a former Standard journalist. The association awards are to be announced in March. Read has four comedy songs in the association comedy section final and the remainder in the Australia section. Downsizing was also in the finals of the Tamworth Songwriters Association's 2021 awards for the new songwriters of the year section. The song has also now reached the semi-finals of the comedy/novelty section of the International Songwriting Competition for 2020 - an international contest based in Nashville which attracts 26,000 entries. The Generation, a tribute to his late father John Read, was also recognised in the Tamworth association finals. Read won the Tamworth Songwriters' Association comedy novelty song of the year for 2020 with Wouldn't Be Dead for Quids, from his second album The Original Eric Read released in 2019. The album is the culmination of many decades of songwriting for the now Sunshine Coast-based entertainer- with comedy songs and ballads featuring on this latest album. The album is aptly named as nine of the 14 songs on the album are originals that Read has written and performed over the years. "There's ballads about family and friends and real life and, as a lifetime lover of humour and the ability to see the funny side of most situations, many of my new songs are just that," he said. A long-time rhythm section musician and entertainer with a background in several semi pro bands over the years, Read has more recently embraced a new focus as a solo performer with the added art of his love of ventriloquism. "Encouragement has given me confidence and it goes to show that we can achieve great things at any stage in our lives," he said. Eric Read's Variety Shows, incorporating classics, comedy and ventriloquism, are attracting a growing clientele across south-east Queensland, northern New South Wales and north to Bundaberg.