FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – MEDIA RELEASE
 The metaphor of a butterfly, breaking forth and starting a new life is the inspiration behind multi-Golden Guitar nominee Tamara Stewart’s new single, ‘Butterfly’. While the song itself is a new beginning, it also showcases Tamara’s own re-emergence onto the Australian country scene. This is by far the most honest work of Tamara’s career, and is not only a new direction musically, but a new start for the singer who lost a staggering 41-kilos in the past two years and turned her life around.
“I’ve been right, I’ve been wrong. I’ve learned the hard way to let go and move on, leave my cocoon behind…butterfly…”
It was a daunting process turning the spotlight so deep inside herself, but an important step for Tamara who was ready to start anew. Losing over 40-kilos was only just the start of the personal evolution that has seen this revered songstress transform her life. “It’s taken me a long time to feel comfortable enough in my own skin to write a song like ‘Butterfly,’” Tamara says. “I’m really proud and hope it can be a great inspiration to people, men and women, evolving and changing. It’s not only my story I’m telling, it’s a song about all who have triumphed or are on the way.”
Tamara’s moment of truth came at the Golden Guitar Awards two years ago. Walking the red carpet as two time nominee for Australian Country Music Unites, [as producer, writer and coordinator of the ‘Tangerine Sky’ project that raised funds for those affected by the bushfires], Tamara found herself wanting to hide from the spotlight instead of reveling in it. “I should have been overcome with excitement and pride for what we had been able to achieve for the project, but instead I wanted to run away,” she says. When a group of photographers gathered to take press shots, Tamara stood with intense feelings discomfort and embarrassment. “I just wasn’t comfortable,” she says. “I knew it wasn’t ME standing there, I was overweight, very sad, and wished someone else could have represented the project other than me…I was very unhappy with how I felt and looked. My focus was not on the right things. Something had to change.”
 The butterfly metaphor was an image that was in Tamara’s head from the start. It represented so much more than just change, searching deep within herself and penning a track that is so intensely personal was cathartic. “It was a bit of a coming of age for me,” Tamara says. “This is my fourth record, I’ve had lots of great experiences, but I’ve also made bad decisions. This is about learning those lessons, and putting it all in perspective. At the end, I still love what I do and I’m still passionate about making music. ‘Butterfly’ to me is a celebration of evolution. There is no darkness in it at all; it is a celebration of finding myself musically. It is the most personal song that I’ve ever written.”
Tamara continued to challenge herself with ‘Butterfly’. While she has always been extremely hands-on, producing and co-producing her previous material, she realised that ‘Butterfly’ was something different and she needed external assistance to open its wings. “I knew with ‘Butterfly’ I had to let it go,” she says. “I needed someone I trusted with it, I’ve known Matt Fell for about 12 years, so I was very comfortable being creative with him. It’s always a bit daunting trusting someone else with my music. I feel like all the curtains have now come down. This is a new chapter.” Recording the track with Matt Fell at Love Hz Studios in Sydney and gearing up to lay down more tracks for the forthcoming record, Tamara says she is very excited about how the new material will be received.
Due for release in 2012, it will be the most honest of her career and offer a rare, and private view into this incredible musician’s life. Tamara is excited about the direction it is taking, the honest slant and the co-writes she has been working on with the likes of Graeme Connors and Drew McAlister. As her fourth album, and the first on the other side of her growth as a person and a musician, Tamara is ready to let audiences see the other side of her. Tamara hardly needs an introduction to the country music scene. With three acclaimed albums already under her belt, and songwriting accolades such as penning number one hits for country music royalty, including her involvement with the ‘Tangerine Sky’ project, she has had an envied career to date. Add to that the fact that she is ‘songwriter in residence’ at the Academy of Country Music teaching the songwriters of the future how to approach their music, and that is a pretty clear validation of how well respected this beautiful artist is by her peers.
Now, as she embarks on the next part of her career, with new material and a new outlook on life, Tamara’s main hope is to inspire others. If the feedback so far from ‘Butterfly’ is anything to go by, she certainly seems to be doing this already. Audiences find Tamara’s story resonates with their own lives, and she regularly has people thanking her for ‘telling their story’. To coincide with the release of ‘Butterfly’ and all it means to her, Tamara opened up an online portal dubbed ‘The Butterfly Project’ where people facing similar challenges and struggles can meet and provide support to each other. Tamara says when she was reshaping her life, she was aware at how much she needed support, and she hopes ‘The Butterfly Project’ becomes that place for people in similar situations. “It is about people who are dealing with things and finding the positive in every day,” she says. “It is about making a decision and following it through, and it is nice for people who don’t have the resources to be able to be there for each other through a support network.”
 ‘Butterfly’ is an important step forward for Tamara Stewart. She’s not only grown as a musician, songwriter and person, but has broken out of her own cocoon and is ready to spread her wings and fly.
Tamara Stewart’s new single ‘Butterfly’ is available now on iTunes and through Tamara Stewart’s official website www.tamarastewart.com.au
Her fourth, as-yet-untitled, album is due for release in early 2012.
For more information on Tamara Stewart please visit www.tamarastewart.com.au
Join Tamara Stewart’s social networking sites: FACEBOOK www.facebook.com/tamarastewartmusic
For information on The Butterfly Project, please visit www.facebook.com/thebutterflyprojectpage
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