Capitol Theatre – Saturday 14th January 2023
Award-winning performer Darren Coggan and his 18-year-old daughter Olivia Coggan were looking forward to joining forces for a special show at Tamworth Country Music Festival in 2022. However, with the postponement of the festival, their show was unable to proceed as planned. Now, the father and daughter are excited to announce their planned return to Tamworth in 2023 for one very special afternoon at the Capitol Theatre.
Darren and Olivia’s seven-track EP, Dear August, features uplifting affirmations of the universal values they hold true. “Olivia and I had planned this concert performance for the Tamworth Country Music Festival in 2022 to coincide with the release of the Dear August EP,” says Darren. “However, when the festival was moved to April, we didn’t get to fulfill that opportunity, so now that Olivia has completed high school, we will be making sure this concert is quite the celebration on so many levels.”
While this isn’t the first time the two have shared the stage together for a song, their show in Tamworth will be their first of many co-headline appearances planned for 2023. Darren says he is looking forward to sharing the stage with his daughter. “We will be performing together all of the songs from the EP, as well as some of the other songs that we have loved singing together over recent years,” he says. “I will be performing a selection of songs from my other albums and concept shows that I have produced, and Olivia will also showcase some of her original songs that she has been writing over the past year. Olivia has really taken to writing this year, which has thrilled me to no end, and I may obviously be a little biased, but they are really great songs and I think the audience will thoroughly enjoy the journey we take them on.”
No stranger to performing at Tamworth, Darren has been bringing his family along to the festival every year. “Both of our kids, Olivia and her older brother Gabe, have grown up being backstage in the theatres at my concerts since they were babies,” he says. “I have often welcomed Olivia on stage to sing a song with me during my shows. It’s always been something that has felt natural for us to do.”
The recording process of the EP special for both Darren and Olivia. “Dear August was a result of us trying to stay positive and productive during the endless months of lockdown that we found ourselves in this year,” says Darren. “I am actually very grateful for all of the quality time we had together to make this EP, there was no time limit, no urgency to get it completed, it was literally something to look forward to each day, singing songs and playing music. I guess it was my version of ‘home schooling’. The recording started out just as a way of archiving songs that we have sung together over the years at our family gatherings and sing-a-longs, we had no idea that it would naturally grow into something as grand as it has. As we began recording the songs in my home studio, it all started feeling quite special. It all came from such a beautiful place and had a real warmth and sense of positivity to it. It is undoubtedly the recording I am most proud of in my career.”
The feedback the two have received for Dear August has been overwhelming positive, from both fans and industry colleagues alike. “The response we had to our ‘Father and Daughter’ project in the release of the single Dear August was just so exciting,” says Darren. “To see Olivia’s face light up from artists such as Ashleigh Dallas, Felicity Urquhart, Kasey Chambers, Luke O’Shea, Lyn Bowtell, Beccy Cole, and Adam Harvey all call and message us, saying how much they loved the song, and Olivia’s voice, was truly exciting for us both. We also recently shot a video clip for the song, which was produced, filmed and edited by Olivia’s brother Gabe Coggan, who is in his final year at the Australian Film Television & Radio School (AFTRS) in Sydney, so that has been another very rewarding and exciting experience attached to this project. I know that Gabe has a huge career before him in the film and television industry, and to produce his first video for his sister and father is pretty cool!”
Tickets for Darren Coggan and Olivia Coggan’s show at Tamworth Country Music Festival in 2023 go on sale on Thursday 1st September. Darren Coggan and Olivia Coggan’s EP Dear August is out now.
Saturday 14th January 2023 | 2.30pm
Capitol Theatre, TAMWORTH NSW
www.entertainmentvenues.com.au
For more information, please visit www.darrencoggan.com and www.instagram.com/oliviacoggan
