Rock with Tara the songbird

By Delima Shanti
ALTHOUGH Tara Leigh Dowler’s rock roots were set when she went to her first concert at a John Farnham Show, they could be traced to her family.
Parents Donna and Peter Dowler are founders of the Adlib Entertainment theatre company and have put together countless productions and musicals together.
So it was only natural that this Pakenham songbird would pick up the microphone at the tender age of three.
“I started off with kids’ musicals. We were performing at the Old Cheese Factory and I stole my cousin’s lines,” Tara said.
From stealing lines, she went on to become the resident director of Adlib Children’s Theatre productions in 2010, working with casts of all ages.
“I guess I would say that I am a professional musician in the sense that I get paid to do it, but I don’t think I’d be a performer without Adlib.”
Tara has gone on to be a musician in her own right, because when she’s not busy directing Robin Hood, her fourth and most current production, the versatile performer is carving her own path as a songwriter and a rock musician.
Citing other influences such as My Chemical Romance and Oasis as inspiration, Tara also draws from her own life experiences when she is writing songs.
“I think it’s important to make songs interesting, so sometimes I exaggerate situations a bit. Nobody wants to hear a song about you going out of the house, to the shops,” she said.
Her rock outfit Phantom Alice is making its mark in Melbourne, having already performed at The Evelyn Hotel in Fitzroy and The Espy in St Kilda.
More recently, Phantom Alice performed at the Casey Cares Benefit Concert on Saturday 12 February to help raise money for the victims of the Victoria and Queensland floods.
Tara looks set to take her musical career to greater heights, having signed up with Byrneside/ Universal Music in 2009.
“My ultimate goal would be to become a touring artist. I’ve always wanted to travel around,” she said.