There are plenty of songs about being a mother.
There are songs about babies, sleepless nights, the overwhelming love, the funny moments and the beautiful chaos.
But there are far fewer conversations about what happens to the woman who becomes the mother.
That’s where Matrescence in the Round began.
I've always loved community work and bringing people together, so when I became a mum myself, I found myself experiencing something I had understood intellectually, but was now living in a completely different way.
I was completely, overwhelmingly in love with this tiny person.
And at the same time, I was incredibly lost in myself.
It’s difficult to explain just how all-consuming those early days can be to someone who hasn’t lived them. Suddenly, your entire existence revolves around keeping another human being alive, safe and happy. Your time is no longer really your own. Your needs become secondary without you even having time to think about it.
And it happens almost overnight (for me it was 48 hours but thats a whole other story).
I remember looking in the mirror and barely recognising the person looking back at me. Sometimes, I hated what I saw — which felt incredibly complicated when that body had just given me this precious little person I loved more than anything.
There was so much love. So much happiness.
And also exhaustion, overstimulation, overwhelm, depletion, sleep deprivation, grief for parts of my old life, and a strange sense of having disappeared somewhere along the way.
Even time stopped making sense.
Hours upon hours spent in a nursing chair, days that felt like they lasted a thousand years — all the while days, weeks, and months somehow disappeared in the blink of an eye.
And I was discovering that motherhood wasn't just about learning how to look after a baby.
It was about figuring out how to exist as me again, while being someone else's whole world. Learning to overcome all of the uncomfortable, just enough so that I could function for this tiny little babe.
And honestly, I’m still working that one out.
But it does get easier.
Somewhere in all of this, I came across a word for the enormous transition I was experiencing:
Matrescence.
Matrescence describes the physical, emotional, psychological and identity transition that happens as a woman becomes a mother.
And once I knew the word, I couldn't stop thinking about how much we need to talk about it.
Because so many women experience these things — yet so often we're expected to simply get on with it.
My background in social work has also made me particularly aware of the value of connection, validation and normalising our experiences. Knowing that other women have felt lost, overwhelmed, changed, joyful, grieving, depleted or simply not quite themselves can help take away some of the feeling that we're doing motherhood wrong, that we're failing and won't make it out the other side.
Sometimes, hearing someone put words to something you've been feeling is enough to feel less alone.
I also think many mothers today are navigating this enormous transition without the built-in village that may once have surrounded families.
Our parents and siblings might live in another town or another state. We may be starting families far away from the people who raised us. Friends have their own lives, work and families. And sometimes, even when those people are there (or just a phone call or message away), you simply don't have the time or energy to maintain all the relationships you had before.
That doesn't mean previous generations had it easier — they certainly didn't. But for many families today, there can be a real sense of isolation in becoming a mother without that support immediately around you.
And I think we need more spaces where we can come together and say the things that are sometimes difficult to say out loud.
That's the heart of Matrescence in the Round.
I wanted to create a space where a group of women could sit together, share their songs and stories, and talk honestly about the experience of becoming a mother — not as experts, and not as people with all the answers, but simply as women who have lived it.
The show isn't a parenting seminar. It's not a clinical discussion, and it's certainly not about telling anyone how to be a better mum.
It's about identity, change, love, grief, joy, relationships, overwhelm, connection and finding yourself again.
And it's not only for mothers.
I really want partners to come and perhaps understand something about the woman they love a little differently.
I want daughters to come with their mums.
I want friends, grandparents and anyone who loves a mother to have the opportunity to hear some of the things we don't always know how to articulate.
And, of course, I want people to come simply because they love good songs and honest stories.
This first show in Tamworth brings together myself - Talitha Jae, Olive Mae, Tania Nichamin, Angela Eason and Virjilla Joyce — five singer-songwriters, five different experiences of motherhood, and five different perspectives on what it means to become someone new.
What makes this show particularly special to me is that I don't know exactly what will happen when those five stories meet.
That's the point.
We're creating the space for the conversation to happen in the room.
There will be songs I've written in the thick of motherhood. Stories that have stayed with these women through their own journeys. Moments of laughter, probably some tears, and conversations that I suspect none of us will be able to completely predict.
And hopefully, somewhere in those songs and stories, someone hears something that makes them think:
I've felt that too.
That's what I want people to take home.
Not answers.
Not advice.
Just perhaps a little more understanding, a little more connection, and the reassurance that whatever version of motherhood you're currently living through, you are not the only one figuring it out as you go.
Matrescence in the Round will be presented as part of Tamworth Country Music Festival 2027 on Saturday 16 January, from 10:30am–12:30pm at The Bluebird Room.
And because I know how difficult it can be to organise childcare just to get a couple of hours to yourself, babies and little ones are welcome, with pram parking available.
Come for the music.
Stay for the stories.
And maybe leave feeling a little more seen.
Tickets are on sale now, with early bird tickets currently just $20. https://www.entertainmentvenues.com.au/matrescence-in-the-round
How cool is this!?!?!
