Zoey Pepper

Zoey Pepper has been a true musical chameleon across various genres and musical employment, nationally and internationally.

As a child, Zoey dreamed of being a singer-songwriter, before her course was altered by a classical education. Coming full-circle, Zoey has settled into the Contemporary Folk realm with partner Damon Davies, where finally her songwriting flourishes!

Trained in bassoon and voice, Zoey is an ANU graduate with B.MUS and M.MUS Performance degrees. A decade long freelance career in Melbourne’s big smoke as both classical bassoonist and multi-genre vocalist, combined with a yearning for sea, mountains, bush and a simpler life, ultimately culminated in finding a unique musical path on NSW’s South Coast as a classically transgressing contemporary folk-pop singer-songwriter and instrumentalist.

A desire to integrate the vocal sonorities of the bassoon with her own voice first took shape in a commission and collaboration, via an ARTS ACT grant, with Canberra-based British composer Ian Blake, creating The River Daughter, a multi layered piece for Zoey’s soprano voice, bassoon and CD. The Classical Greek story of the nymph Daphne’s transformation from woman to tree is uniquely encapsulated by a divine musical transgression between the female voice and bassoon. The piece was featured at the International Double Reed conference, where Zoey was guest artist and ran masterclasses in the vocal qualities of the bassoon, is available for viewing as a live performance on Youtube and is housed permanently at the Australian Music Centre.

Since moving to Tilba on the NSW south coast in 2018, Zoey has been busy as a vocal teacher, working with children and adults from her home studio and in schools, teaching classical, to jazz, to pop, as well as running young vocal ensembles and putting on regular student shows. As freelance bassoonist she has continued casual work with Canberra International Music Festival and Opera Australia, as well as performing regularly in various guises at Four Winds, Navigate Arts and at many local venues. Her quirky duo Stitch was awarded Australian National Busking Champions in 2020, with her their unique patchwork of jazz and pop covers. As an emerging songwriter Zoey composed, scored and put together a show for her “Oom Pah Pah” ensemble, as part of the nationally funded Great Southern Nights touring program, featuring new original songs and mysterious arrangements that wowed a sell-out audience. The show was a perfect culmination of Zoey’s varied musical influences, from Joni Mitchell to Sting to Kate Bush, woven together with a penchant for gypsy sounds from Klezmer to the Middle East.

A quirky talent of Zoey’s is her ability to embody Kate Bush, and thus a touring tribute show complete with band, costumes, dancing, headset and crazy eyes is taking shape after a wow-factor miniature trial show locally at the end of 2023. This is Zoey’s alter-ego at its best!

With momentum increasing, Zoey is excited to embark on a 2024 of recording and performing concerts and festivals, sharing the unique musical experience that is Pepper & Davies.