Wendy commences her Queensland leg of the "Cafe Naturale" tour, kicking off this Friday August 6th at Ballina RSL Club.  All dates and venue information are listed on the "Tour Dates" page.  Wendy will also be performing shows in Adelaide in September and Sydney and Melbourne in October.  Please see the "Tour Dates" page for confirmed show dates.  More shows will be added once they are confirmed!  

5th Aug 04 - Some more new Wendy shows for NSW announced (check tour dates page for info). Please be advised that MIX-FM's Wendy Showcase will now be held on Thursday September 2nd 2004. Tune in to MIX 106.5 FM for your chance to win tickets to this exclusive event at the MIX 106.5 "Live Lounge" at "Liquidity" in Sydney.
                                     
2nd Aug 04 - **Wendy TV Alert!**- Wendy will be performing "Love and Happiness" from her new album "Cafe Naturale" on the Kerri-Anne "Mornings" program on Channel 9 on Thursday August 5th at 9am.  So be sure to tune in!
Meanwhile, Wendy will be performing a special "Showcase" for Sydney radio station MiX 106.5. For your chance to win tickets to an exclusive showcase performance with Wendy, make sure you listen in to 
MIX 106.5 FM for more details!

6th July 04 - Wendy and band returned last week from a successful tour of Newcastle. Wendy's set includes many new songs from "Cafe Naturale" as well as some old favourites, which makes for a perfect combination to delight audiences. Fans particularly enjoyed the after-show interaction with Wendy, where she kindly made herself available to autograph copies of her new album.
            
***New shows announced for NSW/QLD Check the Tour Dates page for info.***

3rd July 04 - A technical error has occurred with our new mailing list subscribers. We have now resolved the problem however, if you have joined Wendy's mailing list in the past two weeks, please re-join to ensure you are kept up-to-date with the latest Wendy news. Many thanks!

TV ALERT! ~ A Special Wendy Backstage Pass!

A special Wendy feature will be aired on Saturday June 19th on Channel 9 at 2:30pm titled "Backstage Pass". 
The half hour special will feature Wendy from her very first single release right through to her current song "All I Need".  Wendy will chat about her career to date as well as her latest work.  This is a must for all Wendy fans and definitely one not to be missed!

13th June 04 - Welcome to the new- look Official Wendy Matthews Website!

Wendy's new album "Cafe Naturale" was released on Monday May 24th 2004 and debuted at #42 with a bullet on the ARIA charts and #12 on the Australian only Charts. If you haven't yet purchased your copy of "Cafe Naturale", you can hear song samples to the right of the page!

"Cafe Naturale" Album Feature!!  Sydney radio station Nova 96.9fm will be featuring "Cafe Naturale" on Sunday May 30th from 6-8am in  The Chillzone with Mike G.  Tune in to hear songs from Wendy's new album as well as a chance to win yourself a copy!

Wendy is touring as support artist to Sarah McLachlan in all major Capital cities except for Perth, from May 21st - 28th.  Make sure you catch Wendy live in concert with Sarah, as Wendy will be playing songs from her brand new album "Cafe Naturale" as well as her much loved and well known songs. Tickets are on sale now!  See 'Tour Dates' page for further details.

Also keep an eye out for Wendy's video clip for a "All I Need", (a video still from the clip is pictured below) which is currently being shown on video programs such as RAGE and So Fresh. Although Wendy does not actually appear in the clip, it comes from the award-winning short by film Emma Freeman titled "Lamb" which won first prize at the "Tropfest" in Sydney in 2001.  It is a very moving piece and a quite unforgettable story.
                                                                                                     
If you have not already joined the free Wendy  Matthews Mailing List, please sign-up in order to be kept up-to-date with all the latest Wendy News. Everyone is also welcome to sign-up to the free Wendy Matthews Forum and 'chat' about Wendy, submit gig reviews and have some fun.
            
24th May 2004: "Cafe Naturale" is a stunning  collection of acoustic laidback tunes, which only gets better with each listen. In amongst the smooth grooves are renditions of songs from artists such as U2, Al Green and Massive Attack.  Timeless classics as well as modern tunes - entwined with finely penned originals to serve up an acoustic oasis that's compiled seamlessly to create the perfect mix.  "Basically, all my favourite records for the past many years come from word-of-mouth or from my favourite bookshop/coffee shop".  says Wendy.  "I'm always going in there for a coffee and looking through the books and thinking ' I must ask what this is, this music'.  "I kind of wanted to aim this record along those lines, just for myself, and the acoustic instruments have been around forever and they're so au naturale, so basically...'Cafe Naturale' says Wendy. 

The idea behind the cover artwork comes from a wall on Sydney's Edgecliff Road, which has had this woman painted there for about 17 years.  She's become a bit of a legend in Sydney and everyone's always wondered who painted her.
"I recently met the painter and he was asked to commission a painting of this woman for my cover.  Basically, he's painted her as me with a chopstick in her hair and my dog at the feet.  Every time I'm in Sydney I have to go and check the lady on the wall, what colour dress she's wearing this month, whether she's changed and she looks so cafe society to me, so I'm thrilled and honoured that he actually did a painting for this cover".         

                                
19th May 2004 - TV Alert!!  Wendy will be appearing on Channel 9's TODAY show as well as Kerri-Anne's "Mornings" show on Monday May 24th. Wendy is also  appearing on Bert Newton's "GMA"  on Thursday May 27th.

9th May 2004 - Wendy sang with the Darwin Symphony Orchestra as part of the Kimberley Moon Festival in Kununurra WA yesterday.  Kununurra was amazing outdoor venue on the banks of the Ord River . A large crowd watched Wendy perform four songs with the band and the Darwin Symphony Orchestra (a 50 piece) plus Wendy performed a 50 minute set of her own. Two of the sponsors were  the local diamond companies, who both presented Wendy with diamonds to take home!

                                                                                       
30th April 2004 - With the release of Wendy's new album "Cafe Naturale" on Monday May 24th, the first track from it, "All I Need" is receiving high rotation airplay on MIX-FM radio stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra.  This is fantastic news and an excellent reaction to Wendy's new album, which takes Wendy in a slightly different direction musically.

16th April 2004 - Wendy will perform the National Anthem at the AJC Easter Carnival "Cup Day" at Royal Randwick in Sydney on Saturday April 17th 2004.  Wendy also sang the National Anthem at Royal Randwick on "Oaks Day" on April 14th.

3rd April 2004 - Wendy performs at the Lake Leschenaultia Heritage Festival in Chidlow in the Perth Hills today.  Also on the bill are writers of Wendy's song "Beautiful View", Things of Stone and Wood, as well as writer some of Wendy's early tunes, including "Square Moon" and "Homecoming Song of Susannah Castaway" Robert James.  The concert also features Marcus Sturrock.

2nd April 2004 - Wendy sang at the recent BMG conference with fellow BMG stable mates, Guy Sebastian, Tania Doko, Mercury 4, Shannon Noll and Nessa Morgan. All the BMG artists who played at the the conference finished with a great rendition of Sly and The Family Stones song "Higher", which was also the company's  conference theme!