Fiona Kernaghan: News

Another new song of mine, "Holdin' On To Nothing", will be on the big screen soon! This time in the upcoming feature, "Ten Cent Pistol". It's about two life long criminals searching for wealth, love and redemption in the shady underbelly of LA and stars Jenna Malone (Into The Wild, Sucker Punch) and Joe Mantagna (The Godfather, Criminal Minds). Should be a good time!.. I'll post more about the song and my co writer, Emmy winning composer, Jim Dooley, soon!  

I spent April back in Australia visiting my amazing family. It was great to get together again. I came across this old photo of us on tour in the early 80's with my dad's traveling country music and variety show (which featured his Jet Powered drag racing truck, "Waltzing Matilda"). Who knew we'd end up with dozens of gold and platinum selling records between us and still be living the musical dream all these years later!?

Yep.., that's me in the pink sitting on my brother, Greg's knee! lol.

Had a terrific vocal session today at producer, Todd Herfindal's studio. We were working with the super lovely and multi talented actor, Chase Fein, on a beautiful love song we've written for Chase to sing in "Dark Prophet", a new web series and tv show that also stars Henry Rollins! More updates about it to come!

I'm excited about Extreme Music picking up another song of mine! "The Way" is performed by Anthony Snape and was co written with Anthony and producer JJ. Farris. It appears on Extreme's Indie Pop 3 compilation album and will be available on iTunes soon! 

G'day USA is an annual program designed to showcase Australian business and artistic capabilities in the USA - Australia's largest trading and investment partner. Dan and I had a brilliant time at their Black Tie Gala with past and present honorees including Anthony La Paglia, Mel Gibson, Olivia Newton John, Toni Collette, Luke Longley, Air Supply, Keith Urban, Hugh Jackman, Paul Hogan and Simon Baker. Way to go, guys!

I just got that good news that 3 of my songs will appear in the upcoming thriller, "The Shattering"! It IS a shattering tale, too - based on the events surrounding the Humboldt Country murders of 2005 where the disappearance of six students ended with the discovery of their remains in the remote forests of Northern California. The ending is particularly creepy... and I'm thrilled that the song my husband, Dan, and I wrote together, "Shadow's Come", will be featured over the end credits. "Shadow's Come" was produced by talented music editor and film score composer, Joseph S. De Beasi. 

This month I've been in the studio with former Peer songwriter producer, Todd Herfindal, and the amazing actor and artist, Bevin Hamilton. We're in pre production, working on material for Bevin's solo debut album to be recorded in Nashville with ARIA award winning producer, Mark Moffatt. We can't wait to unleash this stuff on the world!   

"City Of Angels" is still going strong! It recently appeared in American Idol on Fox, The Nate Berkus Show on NBC and Jennifer Aniston's Biography on A&E! Awesome! 

My song, "City Of Angels", got ANOTHER placement last week! THIS TIME in NICKELODEON'S int'l hit show, "Victorious"! About an aspiring singer who attends Hollywood Arts High School, the show has 6 million+ viewers and won the Favorite TV Show award at the 2012 Kids' Choice Awards! Awesome!

ASCAP'S 12th annual "LOVE FEST", a gathering of some of L.A top songwriters, was another great one last night! Thanks to Sue Drew, Brendon Okrent, Randy Grimmett, Mike Todd and all the crew at Ascap as well as celeb vocal coach, Eric Vetro, for hosting!

My song, "CITY OF ANGELS" was featured in a recent episode of the crazy popular Lifetime show, "Dance Moms"! Bring it on, girls! And congrats to young Paige Hyland who rocked dancing her big solo to the tune! 

Varese Sarabande has released the "Bad Karma" Soundtrack album! The album features the film's original music and score by Bryce Jacobs as well as the songs we co wrote for the film along with a number of great performances by Anthony Snape! Check out the audio clips on iTunes!

Adrian Peel of Country Music People Magazine recently reviewed my sister, Tania's, "Greatest Hits" CD.

"Twelve of the songs included on this comprehensive compilation (Fiona Kernaghan had a hand in writing 17 of them) hit number one on the Australian country charts and it’s easy to see why. Great lyrics and great tunes - traditional steel and fiddle, yet unashamedly ‘modern’ (especially in terms of lyrical content) - topped off by Tania’s outstanding and instantly-identifiable vocals...Tania Kernaghan’s Greatest Hits is the best album I’ve heard so far this year. Buy it."

THANKS, Adrian!

Here below is a link to an article about my sister, Tania's, Greatest Hits CD & DVD. It talks about our work with Andrew Farriss from INXS, film score composer Mark Buys, The Discovery Orchestra and Keith Urban. I wrote 18 of the 20 songs on the Greatest Hits collection. We've been working together for twenty years and still looking forward to writing and recording the next album! 

Interview with Tania Kernaghan

suite101.com

The popular Australian singer chats to Suite 101 about her 20-year career and talks us through some of the tracks on her latest album.

I am excited to have 3 songs in the hilarious short film, "Big Night" shot here in LA recently. One was written with my sexy and talented husband, Dan, the second was co written with my trusty, long time writing partners, Anthony Snape and J.J Farris and the third is one of my solo tunes - "Where The Wild Things Are" lifted from my last record "Shadow Wine And Truth Lilies". That one plays over the end titles. I'll post more details and news about screenings etc soon!  

I've been working on music for an amazing new action thriller web series and pilot called "Dark Prophet", funded in part by NBC.

In the vein of Sons Of Anarchy and 24, "Dark Prophet" is about a gifted but rebellious music student who can see the future. He decodes government secrets embedded in song patterns that can trigger World War III and is framed for his girlfriend’s murder. Forced to go underground by a corrupt government agency, our "Dark Prophet" then teams with a sexy streetwise runaway to prove his innocence and prevent the secrets from being sold. Cool, huh?! I co wrote the "Dark Prophet" theme song, "Hear The Warning", with film score composer Bryce Jacobs. I'm thrilled to be contributing to this amazing musical story and soundtrack! 

The Man From Snowy River Festival is going on this week in the foothills of Australia's High Country. To celebrate, I've made his month’s “free download of the month” the title track from my sister, Tania's, fourth album called Higher Ground, released back in 2005. The song is really special to Tania and I as it was inspired by one of our heroes, the famous high country horseman and legendary Man From Snowy River, Jack Riley. Jack lived in isolation in a hut up in Tom Groggin. He was a good mate of the late Walter Mitchell of Towong Station, who introduced Jack Riley to Banjo Paterson on a camping trip. They too became fast friends, sharing many a campfire and yarn as the story goes. As it turns out, Jack was the inspiration behind Banjo's famous poem that later became the iconic movie, The Man From Snowy River starring Tom Burlinson and Sigrid Thornton.

My inspiration to write the song, Higher Ground, came from a visit to my nan and mum's hometown, Corryong, in the foothills of the Victorian High Country. Corryong was the closest township to Jack so he'd visit three or four times a year for supplies. I read an old newspaper article in the Corryong museum about the night Jack's friends found him very sick and attempted to get him to Corryong Hospital, although he died along the way. I kept thinking about the way that night might have unfolded and what he might have been thinking about as he closed his eyes for the last time. It didn't take long for the song to flow and I'm really proud of the way it turned out and love the way Tan sings it. 

Jack Riley was buried at the Corryong cemetery in 1914. He rests just a few graves away from our beautiful grandmother, Myrtle Alma Annie Roberts, who was herself a fine high country horsewoman. She’d have loved to have seen the Man From Snowy River Bush Festival that brings some of Australia's greatest horseman to Corryong this time of year. I wouldn't mind betting there's a feisty auburn haired lady cheering them on from her "higher ground"! Here's to both of them living on through us. Enjoy the song! Fiona. x

Last night's 84th Academy Awards was a special one for us this year as Daniel worked around the clock in the lead up - helping Hans fulfill his vision and ensuring all would go swimmingly on the big night. It was so fun to see Dan's name in gold letters in the credits, too! We rocked on at Remote Control Productions' Oscar Party sponsored by Jaguar. Congrats to Hans on a brilliant job and to all the nominees and winners!  

Over the last few months I've been working feverishly with film score composer, Bryce Jacobs, on a really gritty and edgy Song/Score for the Zero Gravity produced feature film "Bad Karma" starring Ray Liotta and Dominic Purcell. Crafting original songs to Steve Allrich and Aleve Mei Loh's script and working to Suri Krishnamma's heart pounding vision has been an absolute blast! News about release dates etc coming soon! 

We're kicking off the silly season on a high note as Puss In Boots recently opened at #1 at the Box Office and grossed $148,976,000 domestically! It was great to see Dan rack up another sexy credit for his recording work. We had a blast at the cast and crew premier screening and party! Thanks Dreamworks!! 

Australians In Film celebrated their 10th Anniversary last month with a party held at our Australian Consul General's Residence. Big thanks to our eminently rockin' Consul General, Chris De Cure, and all AIF do for us here in L.A! A great time was had by all! Dan and I caught up with some of our favorite peeps - Belinda and Bryce Jacobs, Tim Davies and Vice Consul, Ed Wilkinson. :)

I'm so thrilled Dan and I were there to see Keith and the band ROCK The Staples Center last weekend! It was great to see Jerry Flowers on bass, playing and singing his ass off as usual! Seeing Keith and Jerry here in L.A so many years after they welcomed me to Nashville and the U.S, it felt like a big, cosmic wheel had come full circle somehow. I'll always be grateful for the inspiration and encouragement they've provided over the years. Y'all rock!!... 

My cut of "City Of Angels" is featured on EXTREME MUSIC'S latest "GIRLFRIEND POP" collection! Yay! Girlfriend Pop selections have been featured in thousands of tv shows as well as JC Penney, Dell, Macys and Glee campaigns - and are also for sale on iTunes. Look for me on collection #3! Big THANKS go out to Russell Emanuel, Stephanie and the Extreme team for keeping it happening! 

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/girlfriend-pop-3/id459468664

I signed on with the "The Bad Boys Of Production Music" and perhaps the world's most influential production music company today! I'm psyched to say the least that Sony/ATV's Extreme Music are working my stuff - and am in excellent company as they represent the music of Hans Zimmer, Quincy Jones, Snoop Dogg, John Powell and Robbie Nevil to name a few.