Vincent’s Chair

Vincent's Chair is the brainchild of singer-songwriter, Kathie Renner, a creative artist who writes from the heart about her observations on life.

The group began in 2000 as a 6 piece, and has evolved into its current trio line-up of Kathie Renner on vocals & keyboard, accompanied by Karen De Nardi on viola and Hugh Stuckey on guitar. The combination of instruments and the beautifully crafted songs, together with their outstanding musicianship make for a lush, sonorous and unique sound.

Their blend of musically eclectic and lyrically introspective songs have left audiences amazed at the astonishing level of artistry and skill. In an age of fierce competition just to be noticed, this is one musical experience not to be missed.

Their first performance was at the Tandanya Cafe in 2000. Since then they have gone on to perform at three Adelaide Fringe Festivals and the 2004 Adelaide Cabaret Festival, the 2005 Coopers International Jazz Festival and the Victor Harbor Folk Festival.

In May 2006, the Vincent's Chair Trio, which consisted of Kathie Renner, Karen De Nardi and Hugh Stuckey, played to great acclaim at EUROPAfest in Bucharest, Romania.

In 2003 they launched their self-released debut CD, "At the first sign", to a full house at the Garage Bar, Adelaide and the Trio have just released a new Cd called "Stretch"(2006)

The band's name, refers to their philosophy on music making. The members identify with the artistry and skill of the music industry and draw inspiration from the Dutch painter, Vincent VanGogh.  Vincent's Chair cite as their influences Joni Mitchell, Sting, Pat Metheny, and Lior.

PLAYER PROFILES

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KATHIE RENNER - singer-songwriter, keyboard, guitar

Kathie is a dedicated singer-songwriter who has recorded several CDs of her own material over the years. In 1995 she released her self-funded CD, Just Because, and again in 1999 she released The Bayfield Sessions. In 2003 she launched her band, Vincent's Chair's first CD, At the first sign. Kathie has also been recognised for her song writing with an award for her song, Such is life from the Australian National Songwriter's Association in 2005. A highly sought after vocal teacher, Kathie divides her time between performing and teaching at several high schools and the Centre for Aboriginal Studies in Music at Adelaide University. She is also a member and regular contributor to COMA (Creative Original Music Adelaide)

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KAREN DE NARDI - Viola

Karen performs regularly as a chamber musician, and has appeared in many music festivals including the Adelaide Festival of Arts, Adelaide Fringe, Adelaide Cabaret Festival and numerous Folk and Jazz festivals. Her experience in classical and other genres is pivotal to the arrangements of new works for the group and she brings a warmth and sensitivity to the ensemble sound. Karen uses a 1989 Rex Thompson viola. She chooses to use Pirastro Obligato strings, a Martin Jones(MJ1) Pick-up and Fishman Pre-amp.

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HUGH STUCKEY - guitar

Hugh Stuckey was quick to pick up the guitar and by age eleven made the trip to Adelaide to perform duets with Tommy Emmanuel at the Norwood Town Hall, and a year later travelled to Adelaide to ‘sit in’ with the Pembroke School Concert Band during a performance with Don Burrows and Kevin Hunt. In May 2005 Hugh received the James Morrison BMW scholarship which resulted in an opportunity to perform with James Morrison at concerts in Sydney and Melbourne. Perhaps more importantly through was in invitation to perform at the International Association of Jazz Education (IAJE) conference in January 2006 which was held in New York. While in New York Hugh received lessons from world renowned jazz guitarists John Abercrombie and Ben Monder and was able to experience many of the world’s best jazz musicians .

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Other musicians who have played with Vincent's Chair

• Brett Stafford – guitars
• Tom Belcher – keyboard
• Andrew Leckie – drums and percussion
• Shaun Duncan – bass guitar
• Derek McClure – bass guitar
• Thom Mann – drums
• Steve Todd – percussion
• Ben Todd – percussion
• Zoe Barry – cello
• Dominic Glynn – violin
• Shireen Khemlani – bass
• Ruby Frost String Quartet – strings
• James Sked – bass
• Damien Eldridge - drums

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