Australian singer, songwriter, storyteller, Leonie Wheeler captures the essence of the Australian spirit in her writing, whether it be in her poetry, songs, children’s stories, novels or screenplays.
Her debut album is a collection of self-penned, easy listening country songs that rest easy on the heart and ears. It is not the typical country collection.
The song topics are so diverse and capture the essence of many of Leonie’s reflections about life.
Her first novel Hope Valley, a mature romance, set to be released in May 2017 engages the reader in how one woman finds the strength to rebuild her life as she connects with country. The character is not unlike Leonie herself, taking a chance and daring to follow a dream.
In her own words Leonie said she felt audacious as she took the leap of faith, going in to the studio to record, but then she knew it was time. “Wayne Dyer said ‘don’t die with the music in you’, and that resonated with me. I realised that if I didn’t do this now, when was I ever going to? I have been writing for many years and most of my work remains unseen and unheard because I haven’t put it out there. What was the point in that, when I feel as though I have something worth sharing?”
Be warned though. Listeners often experience symptoms of goose bumps, tears, smiles, heart warmth and bouts of reminiscing. Some find an insatiable urge to dance to various songs on the album and yet another side effect reported is that listeners can have a tendency to walk around singing the songs repeatedly after listening to them several times.
