Chelsy Atkins is a talented songwriter, singer, guitarist who lives right here in Pambula. She performs at local venues and festivals. We've been aware of Chelsy's talent for a good while, and have keenly anticipated welcoming her to The PBGB Shed.

It took a while, but back in early October ( 2018 ) all the ducks lined up and Chelsy spent an afternoon in The Shed recording a couple of her original tunes. It was great fun. Chelsy is a charmer, and was as cool as. She reeled off her songs in no time flat. Well done Chelsy !

Chelsy was born in Albany, Western Australia. She is a descendant of the Yamatji Widi cultural group, whose country spreads across the mid‑West and Gascoyne regions of Western Australia, stretching from Carnarvon in the North to Meekatharra in the East, to Jurien in the South.

At age seven, Chelsy, one of five kids in the family, moved to Tamworth NSW. There, at age thirteen, Chelsy joined in the family's music making fun and games, and started writing and performing her own songs.

That there was always music in the family home is not surprising. Google 'Mark Atkins' ( Chelsy's dad ) and you will learn that father Mark is celebrated worldwide for his skill on the didgeridoo.

In fact, Mark, a storyteller, songwriter, composer and painter, was the 1990 winner of the Golden Didjeridu Competition, and has worked with artists as diverse as Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, Hothouse Flowers, Philip Glass, The Black Arm Band ( which he founded ), and the London Philharmonic !!

No wonder Chelsy has an artistic bent !

In her teens Chelsy travelled widely around Australia .........back to explore the West Australian Coast at fifteen, then a year in Currumbin ( Queensland ) where she continued her reconnection with her culture by performing traditional dances for visitors to the Wildlife Sanctuary.
Chelsy is now settled in Pambula with her two girls, who are lucky enough to attend the beautiful Pambula Primary School.

Anyway, yea, we knew about Chelsy and had seen her perform at various culturally connected events, including the opening of the Tilba Aboriginal Art Centre and the spectacularly successful 2018 Giiyong Festival at nearby Jigamy Farm.

Chelsy is working hard to realise her dream of recording an album in the USA in 2019.

In the meantime, she graciously accepted our invitation to lay down a couple of her original songs in The Shed.

The first, 'Positivity', tells about the choice between viewing things as either positive or negative. Chelsy says that is our choice.........that we shouldn't cry about things......there is invariably a positive side if we just seek it out.........and that we should recognise opportunities, and learn from them.

Sounds good to us Chelsy !

Thank you so much for sharing your songs with us.

Have a listen to Chelsy's fine guitar playing and powerful vocal rendition of 'Positivity'.

And keep an eye on the PBGB Blog for a second song by Chelsy............ coming soon.