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Sydney singer, writer, musician, Margaret Bradford has gained a strong following in the live music scene around Australia. Her well-crafted songs of conscience, humour and compassion reflect contemporary, environmental and social issues. Margaret has that knack to bring out the heartfelt essence of a song. Margaret has been entertaining young and old alike with her singing at community gatherings, folk clubs, festivals and fairs, public rallies, concert houses and charity groups in and out of Australia for the last 30 years now. Margaret plays an eclectic mix of suburban folk music that crosses the Folk/Country/Blues genre and reflects everyday issues both comical and poignant. She is a dab hand at a range of instruments, including guitar, fiddle and bowed psaltery and ukulele Hoya, a new Sydney-based ensemble includes singer songwriter Margaret Bradford, vocals, bowed psaltery and whistle, her daughter Sonya Bradford on vocals, keyboard and bass, skilled professional bluegrass musicians Gwyn Cleeves on guitar, Ian Knight on mandolin and vocals and multi-talented Marcus Holden on fiddle, guitars. Their repertoire includes a variety of genres but have only recently begun to perform as a group, when Margaret was seeking musicians to accompany songs she has been researching for years about Australian women. All these accomplished musicians have performed in various domains over the years but ‘Inspirational Women’ is their first album together. Here they present a collection of songs, mostly written by Margaret telling the stories of Australian remarkable women, some of whom have received little recognition for their achievements. Margaret’s extensive research prompted her to write these songs. Songs tell of the hardships and challenges faced by these women, like Joice Nankivell Loch MBE -1887–1982-   Georgiana Molloy-1805–1843, botanist The skilled artistry of Kerry Klinner of kk@megacitydesign.com has given the CD an elegant bright finish. Their CD ‘Inspirational Women’ has been received with great interest at festivals, house concerts and local libraries, etc. around Sydney and beyond. Images of the women are shown on a screen  as they sing. The project has attracted students of women’s studies. CD available from Margaret @ margieb639@gmail.com for $20 OR through www.TradandNow.com