| Bertie Blackman | |
| Origin: | Sydney, Australia |
| Years Active: | 2003–present |
| Label: | |
Beatrice "Bertie" Blackman (born 1982)[1] [2] is an Australian singer, songwriter and guitarist. She rose to fame in 2004 with her debut album Headway, which came after years of prolific performances around Sydney's inner-city venues, where she developed a dedicated following.[3]
Bertie is the daughter of late, renowned Australian artist Charles Blackman, and grew up in the eastern Sydney suburbs of Bondi and Paddington. She attended International Grammar School in Ultimo. She began playing African percussion at the age of twelve and guitar at the age of fifteen.
Bertie appeared on the Australian music scene in 2004 with the single "Favourite Jeans," taken from her debut album, Headway (2004), a folk-inspired acoustic album featuring musicians Cameron Deyell, Laurence Pike, and Cameron Undy, and was co-produced by Richard Belkner. This album established her as an Australian headliner alongside contemporaries Something for Kate, Ben Lee and Alex Lloyd. She wrote music for Australian films, including the title track to the 2008 production Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger which saw her collaborate with prodigious Australian producer Paul Mac.
After forming a new band with Neal Sutherland, Evan Mannell and Cameron Deyell, she made her second album Black (2006) and received positive reviews and high rotation on Triple J[4] and demonstrated Blackman's move away from folk music to a focus on rock. This album was produced by well-known Australian producer, Paul McKercher (Augie March, Little Birdy)[5]
In 2008, Bertie signed with newly formed Australian management company Forum 5 and began working on her third studio album, Secrets and Lies, which was recorded between Sydney and Melbourne. Musicians involved included Neal Sutherland, Evan Mannell and Ben Hauptmann, with producers Lee Groves (Goldfrapp, Gwen Stefani) and Francois Tetaz (Architecture in Helsinki, Gotye)[6]
Her first single from the album, "Heart," was released on 10 April 2009.[7] The song was added on high rotation on Australian radio station Triple J and nationwide on commercial radio network Nova as well as on regional and community stations across the country.[8] Altogether, "Heart" was the 4th most added song on radio in the week of its release, and entered the Australian radio airplay charts at No. 67.[9]
The album Secrets and Lies was the Triple J Feature Album for the week commencing 27 April 2009[10] Secrets and Lies entered the ARIA album charts at No. 72 and peaked at No. 49.[11]
At the AIR Awards of 2009, Bertie Blackman received four nominations for 'Best Independent Single or EP', 'Breakthrough Independent Artist of the Year', 'Best Independent Album' and 'Best Independent Artist', winning 'Breakthrough Independent Artist of the Year'.[12] [13]
At the ARIA Music Awards of 2009, Blackman won the ARIA Award for Best Independent Release. In 2010, she released as a single a cover version of "Peek-a-Boo" from Siouxsie and the Banshees.
She has a son, Rumi, born in 2019. In 2022 she published a memoir, Bohemian Negligence, about her childhood experiences growing up with her father Charles Blackman, the Australian artist.
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
|---|---|---|
| AUS [14] | ||
| Headway |
| — |
| Black |
| — |
| Secrets and Lies |
| 49 |
| Pope Innocent X | 54 | |
| The Dash | — | |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Blue Sky Pueblo |
|
| Town of Sky EP |
|
| The Remixes |
|
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS [23] | JJJ 100[24] | ||||
| "Criminal of Desire" | 2003 | — | — | Blue Sky Pueblo | |
| "Favourite Jeans" | 2004 | — | — | Headway | |
| "You Kill Me" | 2005 | — | — | Black | |
| "Television" | — | — | |||
| "Hold Me Close" | 2006 | — | — | ||
| "Fast Bitch" | 2007 | — | — | ||
| "Heart" | 2009 | 99 | 120 | Secrets and Lies | |
| "Thump" | — | 93 | |||
| "Byrds of Prey" | — | 71 | |||
| "Black Cats"[25] | — | 184 | |||
| "Peek-a-Boo" (Siouxsie and the Banshees cover) | 2010 | 92 | 171 | ||
| "Mercy Killer"[26] | 2012 | — | — | Pope Innocent X | |
| "Boy"[27] | — | — | |||
| "Run for Your Life"[28] | 2014 | — | — | The Dash | |
| "Kingdom of Alone"[29] | — | — | |||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS [30] | ||||
| "Young & Dumb" (Chance Waters featuring Bertie Blackman) | 2012 | 91 | Infinity | |
| "Karmageddon Undone" (Abbe May featuring Bertie Blackman)[31] | 2014 | — | ||
| "This Game" (Odd Mob featuring Bertie Blackman)[32] | 2015 | — | Diverse Universe | |
| "Long Loud Hours" (Urthboy featuring Bertie Blackman) | 2015 | 95 | The Past Beats Inside Me Like a Second Heartbeat |
| "Don't You Ever" [34] | 2006 | Bad Education | |
|---|---|---|---|
| "The Futurist" [35] | 2007 | The Murmur Years – The Best of Something for Kate 1996 – 2007 | Backing vocals |
| "The Only One" [36] | 2008 | Hey Hey It's Esther Blueburger – Original Soundtrack | |
| "Town of Sorrow" [37] | One Love – Mobile Disco 2009 | ||
| "In the Air Tonight" [38] | 2009 | Triple J: Like a Version Five | |
| "Heart" [39] | 2010 | The Hi-Fi Live Highlights | |
| "Peekaboo" [40] | Bullet Train Volume One | ||
| "Gold Dust Woman" [41] | 2011 | When I First Met Your Ma | |
| "Do You Love Me?" [42] | 2012 | Straight to You – triple j's Tribute to Nick Cave | |
| "The Mercy Seat" | |||
| "Chasing Stars" [43] | 2018 | I'm Dreaming | Guest vocals |
| "Sweetest Love" [44] | 2020 | Don't Sleep | |
| "Gold" [45] |
| Title | Year | Director(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Favourite Jeans" | 2004 | ||
| "You Kill Me" | 2005 | Simon Wright[46] | |
| "Television" | 2006 | Clemens Habicht[47] | |
| "Fast Bitch" | 2007 | Beth Halon[48] | |
| "Thump" (Viral video)[49] | 2009 | ||
| "Heart" | Danielle Zorbas[50] | ||
| "Thump" | Don Cameron[51] | ||
| "Byrds of Prey" | Marc Furmie[52] | ||
| "Black Cats" | 2010 | Miland Suman and Richard Thomas[53] | |
| "Peek-a-Boo" | Jonathon Lim and Andrew Smith[54] | ||
| "Mercy Killer" | 2012 | Chino Moya[55] | |
| "Boy" | Quan Yeomans[56] | ||
| "Stella" | Andrew Kavanagh[57] | ||
| "Run for Your Life" | 2014 | Timothy Nash and Lucas Crandles[58] | |
| "Kingdom of Alone" | Nick Waterman[59] | ||
| "Strangers in a Moment" | 2015 | Radioactive Gigantism Films[60] |
| Title | Year | Director(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| "The Only One" (Paul Mac featuring Bertie Blackman) | 2008 | ||
| "Young & Dumb" (Chance Waters featuring Bertie Blackman) | 2012 | Craig Foster[61] |
The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector.|-| rowspan="4" | 2009[62] [63] | rowspan="2" | herself| Best Independent Artist| |-| Breakthrough Independent Artist| |-| Secrets and Lies| Breakthrough Independent Album| |-| "Heart"| Best Independent Single/EP|
The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony held by the Australian Recording Industry Association.
|-| 2009| Secrets and Lies| Best Independent Release| |-
The Australian Music Prize (the AMP) is an annual award of $30,000 given to an Australian band or solo artist in recognition of the merit of an album released during the year of award. The commenced in 2005.|-| 2009[64] |Secrets and Lies| Australian Music Prize| |-
The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J. They commenced in 2005.|-| 2009| Secrets and Lies| Australian Album of the Year| |-| rowspan="2"| 2012[65] | Pope Innocent X| Australian Album of the Year| |-| "Boy"| Australian Video of the Year|