Local songwriter and Vancouver Island Music Award nominee Helen Austin will be the guest performer at the 1st Tuesday Fundraiser on May 3, raising money for the Canadian Cancer Society Relay For Life.
Admission for the monthly concert series is by cash donation to the chosen charity, and/or a non perishable food donation for the Comox Valley Food Bank Society. Music starts at 7:30 p.m. with an opening set by hosts Judy and Bruce Wing.
"We appreciate having the support of so many local talented artists and the chance to learn more about the charities and non-profit groups in the Valley," says organizer Judy Wing.
The monthly fundraising music series has raised thousands of dollars for local charities and is sponsored by Roy Tai of the Mex Pub.
Austin is a prolific singer/songwriter and has written music and lyrics for many specific occasions. Her song Relay, written to raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society’s Relay For Life event, is now played at Relay events all over the world.
Her performances of this song at the Comox Valley Relay for Life event has become a heart-warming local tradition the past few years. Austin sings it as cancer survivors make a victory lap around the track.
An artistic departure from her previous life as an award-winning standup comedian in the U.K., Helen brings her quirky humor to her musical performances, as well as the ability to tug at your heartstrings with her more serious songs. With her self-produced music videos getting over half a million viewers online, she has been earning accolades and acquiring fans from around the world.
Her music is now getting regularly licensed in Network TV shows such as 90210, One Tree Hill and Ghost Whisperer, along with many MTV shows and ads. Austin is a multi-instrumentalist, as well as a multi-tasker and will be adding texture to a few of her musical arrangements using her looper.
From April 2009 Helen wrote, produced and uploaded a new song each week for a year onto her website as a free download. Thirteen of those songs are on her album Song of the Week, which has been nominated for five Vancouver Island Music Awards. She also has a 2011 release called Treeho