There's not a cloud in the sky for Wendy Matthews - this is definitely her moment in the sun.  After 16 years as a session singer and backup vocalist for headliners such as Little River Band and Jimmy Barnes, the 32-year-old chanteuse tentatively took stage at the Sydney Entertainment Centre last month to collect three ARIA awards: "Best Female Artist", "Best Single" and "Highest Selling Single" for the ballad "The Day You Went Away". 

"I'm a firm believer that these things don't happen until you are ready for you" says Ms Matthews, who is.  Success does not necessarily bring bucket loads of confidence, though.

When it comes to her birdlike physique, Matthews, who was called a toothpick at school, wouldn't mind a little renovation.  "Well for starters..." she says, stretching her knit dress to create a Barbarella bust line.  Never mind the dramatic slate-blue eyes framed by masses of dark tousled curls  "Obviously I'd like to be six feet tall and blonde" she kids.

When she was 16, Matthews left her Canadian home town of Montreal, with a motley crew of wannabe singers and musicians. She lived in Los Angeles for six years.  Hanging out with a crowd of keen roller-skaters that included Jack Nicholson, Angelica Houston and Warren Beatty, whom Wendy remembers as "the man who didn't know where the hot water system was in his home."

In 1983, Matthews came Down Under to sing with Glenn Shorrock, cutting her first solo album in 1990.  She says that her music is the only commitment in her life, although "it means sacrifice on a personal level, but that's OK - there's time for everything" And everything in its time.