Tarts show their hearts

Some of Sydney's best female local music talent will get together to showcase their original love songs at a special Valentine's Day event at Annandale's Empire Hotel.

Female Pop music showcase night 'PopTarts' is holding a 'Love-In' event on February 14 where break-up songs will be put aside and artists will be presenting only songs about love.

The Empire Hotel will be candlelit and specially decorated for the evening which will also feature giveaways of artists' CDs, dinners for two and bottles of wine.

Artists performing on the night will include Tess Meyrick, Jodie Young, Poptarts' host and founder Amanda Easton and X-factor finalist Yolanda Thomas.

Like the usual PopTarts weekly showcases, PopTarts' Love-In special event will start at 8pm and entry will be free.

The 'PopTarts' music showcase nights began in August 2001 as only a one-month season to counteract what many local artists like Amanda Easton saw as a shrinking live scene in Sydney. Three and half years later, more than 600 local and touring female singer-songwriters and female-fronted bands have graced the PopTarts stage as an ideal place to showcase new material and to network with other artists and fans.

Amanda and her singer-songwriter friends also saw much of the pub scene being dominated by male rock bands, with few opportunities for the hundreds of talented female pop artists in Sydney.

"With the pop market now being so dominated by television-made pop artists, it's more important than ever that there are plenty of opportunities for artists to improve their craft and strut their stuff under their own terms. I saw a particular lack of opportunities for the girls," Amanda said.

"That's why Poptarts is still going strong. Even as television is about to launch another talent show into the already crowded pop market, we believe there are still plenty of people who want to create and listen to independent music created with no corporate restrictions!," she said.

PopTarts continues every Monday night at the Empire Hotel in Annandale, corner of Johnston St and Parramatta Rd. Prospective Tarts can visit www.amandaeaston.com/poptarts for information on how to part in future showcases.