Instagram story viewer> @uniquetastemaker> Tagged

Vicki Gordon

@uniquetastemaker

542

followers

2444

following

Producer, Humanitarian, Feminist, Change Maker, Nature Lover, Cook.

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

Our upcoming healdine show is all about supporting women in music. In preperation for this event, our production team chatted with the Founding Executive Producer & Program Director of the Australian Women Music Awards: Vicki Gordon. Here is what she had to say on where things stand for women in the industry!

Thank you, Vicki, for the honesty and the work.

#WomenInMusic #AustralianMusic #GenderEquity

24

3

Mum, Betty Shaw, known as Timmy, born in Masterton 19 July 1938. She passed away 4 years ago today at 2:35am in Traralgon, Australia.
She was the best mother. Not always straightforward, but that’s how it goes with those we love unconditionally. She had 5 children and 3 husbands. My father Bruce was her first and they had 4 kids. My brother Shaun was the son of her 2nd, and then she met Clyde in her later years and they adored each other. She had plenty of love to give and share. All our friends loved her and often quipped they wished she was their mum. She was glamorously gorgeous.
She was the youngest of 10 kids - her mum passed away when she was young. Adopted by relatives was brutal for her. She was a child prodigy on the piano - we had a piano at home that Dad’s parents bought that barely got played, never by Mum.
She loved to sing, she’d belt out tunes and loved to dance. She’s where we’ve all inherited the love of a jiggle. Songs by Roy Orbison, Dolly Parton, Neil Diamond, Kiri, Leonard Cohen, K.D. Lang, Queen, Abba …give her a good tune with melancholic lyrics and she was in her happy place.
She loved Fiji. She was the first person to deep-fry chips in vegetable oil in our family - it was life changing for me after beef dripping fries my whole life. She made the best pavlova (I still use her recipe) and loved to bake. She’d slow-cooker a pork or lamb joint to delicious tenderness. She’d travel with her sponge tins when visiting her kids to make sure her cakes would be as good as they always were. She couldn’t swim. We scattered her ashes at Waiheke in the sea and when queried why she would want that said ‘Well, I won’t be able to drown when I’m dead’. She loved NZ Sauvignon Blanc and as she became more ill, and started taking opioids I found some alcohol-free SB in a bottle shop near her home in Oz as I didn’t want her to have a bad reaction. When I gave her a glass she refused to drink it realising it was alcohol free. She said ‘I’d rather OD than drink this bloody crap’. That was mum, always saying it like it was. She was hilarious. And we all miss her So much.
Mother to Vicki, Donna, Tracey, me and Shaun. Timmy - shut the f***en cupboard!

903

81

Also down in my hometown Whanganui last week were these two ships. The red one, built in 1970 and called MAUI 1, looks like it’s seen some tough days. The blue one, built locally by Q-West (a boat builder specialising in aluminium marine construction) will be launched sometime soon I guess, and I love that this new blue ship was built just around the corner from where I grew up in Castlecliff - great to see Whanganui humming along.
Online I read that “The (blue) Waitematā 2 is the sister plug-in electric-hybrid ferry to the Waitematā 1, both built by Q-West in Whanganui for Auckland Transport. Designed to carry up to 300 passengers, these $20 million vessels are the centrepiece of Auckland’s push for eco-friendly harbour transit.”
Here’s the boat builders @qwestboatbuilders
The gulls are down on North Mole at Castlecliff Beach, where the fabulous history laden Whanganui awa / river hits the Tasman Sea. Dad called it the upside down river as the mud was always on the top.
#lovewhanganui
#lovecastlecliff
#whanganuiawa
#whanganuiriver
#sunset

94

2

Kōwhai Park, a free-to-visit playground bordering the Whanganui river in Whanganui East. Construction started in the 1950’s and when my Dad and Mum moved here from Wellington in the very late 1950’s after my eldest sister Vicki was born, Dad (a structural engineer) joined in volunteering alongside other locals to build some of the nursery rhyme themed characters. I always visit it when I come to town and it’s fantastic to see it still being used by so many families. My favourite characters are the Brontosaurus alongside Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble.
I should also say that at our home in Castlecliff we had an two seat electric merry-go-round on the back lawn, a four seater whirly gig like the one here, and a fab geometric jungle gym that we would move around and tip on its side for variety. Dad built such fun things.
#kōwhaipark
#kowhaipark
#lovewhanganui

474

51

Bruce William Gordon. Dad passed away three years ago tonight at 8.30pm at home in Castlecliff, Whanganui.

He was the best father. Here he is in his happy place with a snapper, the bones of which will become fish head soup. Dad with my wonderful Mother No. 2, Rose, my stepmum since I was 7. At Pāpāwai Marae, our marae, just outside Greytown in the Wairarapa, for my 50th birthday with some of the whānau. He had a small engineering workshop in Whanganui - he loved to tinker when he retired and the garage still has plenty of his tools. He loved to fish, drink flagons of DB, hang out at Castlecliff Club with Rose and his mates, go on roadies, always a whitebait net on the roof in season, and catch and boil crayfish in sea water down in Ngawi Cape Palliser, he loved to garden and tell tall tales. He made the most delicious bacon and tomato soufflé omelettes most Sundays, and like most men his age was always in control of the BBQ. He built a 2-seat merry-go-round for the back yard powered by a washing machine engine which all our school mates wanted to ride, and he made me a really heavy go-cart powered by a powerful lawnmower motor which we’d take to Castlecliff beach and drive around the car park. In mushroom season, us kids would lie in the rear footwells of our ginormous brown Chevrolet Impala as he drove through the paddocks, and we’d lift up huge field mushrooms as he slowly drove past them.
Father to Vicki, Donna, Tracey, me, Cindy, Dean and Craig. Bruce Gordon - what a man!

977

84

Australian Women in Music Awards 2022 I had the blessing of doing a live collab with my tidda @barkaa__ in case you missed it 😜💫🫶🏽 keep supporting the females in the game. This was such a moment in time that il never forget. 🥹🥰🥲
#femalerappers #hiphopartists #liveperformance🎙🎤 #dizzydoolan #barkaa

4k

169

Selfie with the Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia ? Sure no problem! 😎 Am very inspired to go home and polish up the silverware and antiques! On a serious note Her Excellency Sam Mostyn AC was incredibly eloquent, gracious and accessible. I am very lucky to have shared the experience with the very cool Vicki Gordon (CEO and Founder) and Zoe Hauptmann (Music Director) from the Board of Australian Women in Music. Can definitely recommend an afternoon at Admiralty House in Kirribilli. Baz and CM’s Iona meets Sydney’s Australian Club vibe (2 employers I have been lucky to have worked for). The 2 beautiful Streetons are on loan from the Art Gallery of NSW. Thought they looked familiar. @uniquetastemaker @auntyzozo @womeninmusicaus @gg_australia @kingcharlesuk #balancethescales #IWD2026 #australianclub #iona @bazmarkinq #feelingveryposh

14

5

What a beautiful second book from Jane and Jimmy Barnes - Seasons Where the River Bends. It’s a cookbook of course, but it also introduces us to their garden heaving with produce and flowers, their seasonal approach to cooking, the Barnes youngest generation, and some great stories and advice peppered throughout the book. Jane’s Thai heritage and Jimmy’s Scottish roots are evident throughout, and there’s even a delicious Mexican Feast too.
I first saw Jimmy Barnes in the very early ‘80s in Melbourne, where I did my chef apprenticeship, when he was fronting the rock band Cold Chisel. I first spoke to Jimmy 40 years later, about 5 years ago, when he came to Homeland to film a sequence for the show Sunday on TVNZ. I’d been asked to teach him a recipe and so Jimmy made his first ever pavlova - using my mum Timmy’s recipe. At the end of the baking and filming Jane came along and that’s when the BF and I first hung out with the Barnes. It’s always great to catch up when they’re in town, and it was pretty special having Mum’s recipe included in their book. As Jimmy writes ‘Peter told me that if I followed his mum’s recipe to the letter, I could not go wrong’.
Gorgeous photography by @alan_benson_photographer
@jimmybarnesofficial
@jane13barnes

203

3

What a fabulous night at the @womeninmusicaus awards! Celebrating the contributions of women in music 🎶

Gender equality in the music industry is still a struggle and yet our female artists, technical geniuses, promoters and administrators are smashing records all over the place. The awards is an important opportunity to showcase and acknowledge the huge success and contribution women make in the industry and inspire the next generation to come through.

It was so special to be part of honouring the inspiring and legendary Ruby Hunter, who was one of the nation’s most treasured story tellers. I was honoured to hand the award to Ruby’s son Amos Roach.

Big thanks to Vicki Gordon @uniquetastemaker and the AWMA crew for putting on such a fabulous event.

👗 @mossandspy
💄 @justinturnermua
📷 Australian Women in Music Awards 2025, @briony.walker @cloupet_ @darcygossmedia

206

2

Oh what a night! Thank you to the AWMA Australian Women in Music Awards team for an outstanding event, and to Ethical Engagement Consultancy for sponsoring the Humanitarian Award! 🙏🥰🙏

To my co-finalists and new soul-sistas, massive kudos to you both and CONGRATS to Tina on winning the award. What a huge gain for us all to be recognised in this way and to have met each other.
I feel so blessed to have worked for 35 years in my vocation, the Arts. My heart is full. 🙏🙏🙏🥰🥰🥰🎶🎶🎶

Thank you to my beloved friends and family who came along to cheer for me (and those who were cheering from afar), and to my darling sister Julie, thank for dressing me in BINNY WEAR!! What a perfect dress for such an event.

#awma2025finalists #awma2025 #HumanitarianAward #ethicalengagementconsultancy #TinaBroad #YantradeVilder #binnywear #CathMundy #womeninmusic #brittanylongphotography

18

3

Australian Women in Music Awards Ceremony 2025!

Last week I had the honour of co-hosting the 2025 @womeninmusicaus awards alongside the powerhouse @yumichild. Witnessing the sheer force of the women in that room was incredible and truly inspiring to behold. Congratulations to all of the remarkable winners and finalists and to our founding executive producer @uniquetastemaker congratulations on carving a space with such dedication for all women and gender diverse people in the Australian music industry to be celebrated.

For the evening I was utterly thrilled to be wearing @_joteo_ Lenore gown from the Couture 26 collection and as always sparkles curtesy of @swarovski

#awma2025

115

3

A W M A 2 0 2 5
POV from the @womeninmusicaus awards, on audio team with @wayne_grosser @cameronmahermusic @ruwansena and lads.
Here’s some snaps and vocal highlights as we brought the audio support for the event that highlighted some of the kickarse powerhouse women making a difference here in Oz. Standouts include chair of the board @sarahmcleod1 who truly inspires in the way she effortlessly champions EVERYONE around her, on and off stage. @ninakorbe and Yumi guided the night through a vast array of musical stylings that included the incredible @katemillerheidke @missyhigginsmusic @aylishryanmezzo @thewaifsband but my absolutely highlight were the party gals with my favourite dancing aunty all the way from NT with @shelliemorrismusic
These women are brave and hearing their stories, their songs and how they got EVERYONE up on their feet was a moment I’ll never forget.
It was not lost on me, a vocal coach and performer myself, that I was the only girl on audio crew. A true privilege to work with Lads who believe in raising women up.
Thanks Vicki Gordon and team for creating these spaces for AWMA.
Oh and did I mention the all girl houseband ROCKED!
Let’s do it all again next year.

.

.

.

#awma #women #womeninmusic #awma25 #livemusic #music #stories #sing #singer #singing #honour #champion #championothers #vocals #vocal #vocalcoach #vocalconfidencecoach #goldcoast #qld #australia #awards #audio #encourage #inspire #dream

22

4