Sunburnt Country Music

Katie Brooke grew up on the land and - after time away, including some years in Tamworth - has returned to live on the land in the Northern Rivers district of New South Wales. She released a self-titled EP in 2020 and her debut album, Sticks, Stones and Stories , last year. She now has a really lovely new single, ‘Too Far Down’, which is actually a song about standing up for oneself. '“Too Far Dow...

Denvah is a singer and songwriter from central Queensland who has had a big 2023 and the year isn’t over yet. She was the winner of the 2023 Gympie Music Muster Talent Search, a 2023 Toyota Star Maker Grand Finalist and has just been named the winner of the Groundwater Kix Start competition. She released an EP in 2020 and there have been other singles since. Her latest is ‘Do Without’. The song is...

James Johnston’s debut album  RAISED LIKE THAT  made history as Australia’s largest debut country album. It has reached #1 on the ARIA Top 20 Australian Albums (All Genres) and the #1 on the ARIA Top 20 Australian Country Albums. Johnston has spent over 115 consecutive weeks in the Top 20 of the Country Hot 50 National airplay chart, amassed over 55 million globa...

Originally from Bega in New South Wales, Corey Legge now lives in Wollongong. He’s a prolific songwriter, releasing three albums in quick succession and now anticipating a fourth, produced by Nash Chambers. Legge's latest single is ‘Friday Nights’.  It would be easy to say Legge is a prolific songwriter, given his output, but it's probably more correct to say that he's a committed one, becaus...

Shara Rose is a singer, songwriter and professional dancer, so music is in all aspects of her life. Originally from Perth, she now lives in New South Wales. This year she’s been on tour with Jason Owen and Tania Kernaghan, and she’s been releasing singles, ‘Coming Home’ and the latest, ‘Four Chord Song’. Shara and I had a long conversation because she has many interesting and insightful things to...

John Spence was a member of the 1990s band The Fargone Beauties, which turned rock songs into bluegrass songs and whose members included James Gillard of The Flood. Since then John has worked behind the scenes in the music industry but he's now back behind the microphone with the songs 'Burning Sky' and '(Everybody Wants to be a) Winner'. 'Burning Sky' is the story of young friends who undertake a...

Kayla Mahon is an artist from Gore on the South Island of Aotearoa New Zealand who was the winner of the coveted 2000 and 2008 New Zealand Overall Gold Guitar Award. She was also one half of country music duo The Heartleys, releasing two albums. This year she has been working on a new solo album and from it comes the new single ‘Love’s Got a Witness’. 'This song was inspired by one of my best frie...

Nathan Lamont grew up around Wagga Wagga in New South Wales and has been a performer for several years, appearing on television show The Voice  twice, as well as twice being a Toyota Star Maker Grand Finalist, and for good reason: Lamont is a wonderful singer. He has now released a country-pop single, 'Drink You Up’. The Wiradjuri man forged his musical path from a young age, despit...

Jimbo Stokes grew up on the land near Tamworth in New South Wales and spent the first part of his working life in the corporate world in Sydney before moving back to the New England region, where he now works in the arts. He released his exceptional debut single, ' Atlas' , last year then followed it with 'Headed Country'.  His latest single is 'Same Damn Walls', which - like his first two si...

Kiara Rodrigues grew up in Far North Queensland and she now lives in New South Wales. Over the past few months she’s released the singles ‘High School Reunion’ and ‘Message in a Bottle’. Her latest single is the powerful ‘Ain’t Your Rehab’.  Says Rodrigues: 'I wrote this song thinking about how sometimes we go into relationships thinking we can fix someone and put them back together again. Th...

Mikhail Laxton is a singer-songwriter from the KuKu Yalanji tribe in Mossman, Far North Queensland, who now calls the province of Ontario in Canada home. Laxton's music has influences of Americana, country, folk rock and blues and all of those are present on his excellent self-titled debut album. There's a range of stories and moods on this album; what the songs have in common...

North Queensland artist Josie released her debut single, ‘Down Here’ , earlier this year and it’s had over 140 000 streams already. Her latest single is ‘Freight Man’, which she wrote with multiple Golden Guitar winner Travis Collins . The song is a tribute to her truck-driving father, and it was recorded with producers MSquared. '"Freight Man" struck a chord with them, they knew it had to be one...

Sweet Talk are a six-piece band from Melbourne who released an EP last year and now have a brand new single, ‘Warm Love’. Two of the six members are brothers Tane and Soren Walker, who talked to me about the formation of the band and about the song - and also about their musical bond. It is immediately evident how much regard they have for each other as humans and musicians, and that set the tone...

Matt Joe Gow and Kerryn Fields are compatriots from Aotearoa New Zealand who both live in Melbourne. As individuals they have both released albums, Joe Gow with his fourth album, Between Tonight & Tomorrow released earlier this year, Fields with her second album, Water , in 2021. Now they are collaborators, releasing the single ‘Your Heart of Gold’ earlier this year and with a new single, ‘Lov...

Jeremy Edwards is a singer and songwriter from Thirroul in New South Wales who has performed with his band, Dust Radio, as well as releasing music under his own name. Ghosts is his latest album and it is a collection of songs that are poignant, sometimes bittersweet and ultimately hopeful.  Edwards made Ghosts with a cohort of friends and collaborators. '2021-22 was a prolific time for me reg...

Benny Elder is a singer and songwriter from Brisbane who has released several singles, the latest of which are 'Longing for Change' and 'She's Still Blowin' in the Wind'.  Elder says of 'Longing for Change' that it 'is for everyone out there that works themselves to the bone chasing big dreams, and a life they think is going to make them happy. It’s coming to the realisation that enjoying the...

J.V. Rail are a four-piece alt-country band from Western Australia who have released several singles over the past couple of years, the latest of which is ‘Enough for Me’. Says the band of their new song, 'In a world of show, greed and constant need for attention, "Enough For Me" is the antithesis it seems many need reminding of. Simple, small town country life with its simple pleasures that...

Angus Gill is a Golden Guitar winning singer, songwriter, musician and producer who always has one interesting project or another on the go. His latest is the album Departure & Arrival , recorded with Seasons of Change, who also appeared on his album 3 Minute Movies . Across all of his music Gill is a thoughtful, observant songwriter who excels at selecting details of life which become stories...

Katelann Maree is a singer and songwriter from Miles in Queensland who released her debut EP, the bittersweet Different Kind of High , in 2021. She is an artist who is dedicated to improving as a performer and songwriter and open to learning all the time, attending the Academy of Country Music as well as the Gympie Song Muster, where she has collaborated with other writers including Linc Phelps an...

Jazmyn is a photographer, music video creator and designer from south-east Queensland. She is also a singer and songwriter who has released her debut EP, Garden , which is full of heart and soul and lovely melodies. The title track was the first single from the EP, followed by 'Mother' and new single 'Lay Your Guns Down', for which Jazmyn has - appropriately, given the other work she does - made a...

Cass Hopetoun and Blake Dantier both released debut albums in 2022, Hopetoun with  Not Your Typical Bride and Dantier with  Dry Season , and both found themselves nominated for the 2023 Golden Guitar for New Talent of the Year. In the past year they also got married and became parents, so there's been a lot going on.  While it may seem natural for the pair to record together, they'v...

Andy Penkow released his second album, Love, Lies & Dirty Dishes , last year and and received a Golden Guitar nomination for Bush Ballad of the year. He has already released some brand new music this year, the singles 'Driving You Home' and his latest, ‘Aussie Rain'. ‘As a full time musician, I get the amazing opportunity to travel across Australia and visit some pretty neat places,’ Penkow ex...

Small Town Romance is a duo from Melbourne whose members are Flora Smith and Jim Arneman. After releasing their self-titled debut album in 2016 they released the single ‘I Don’t Believe You’ in 2020. Their latest single is the enchanting ‘Home Fires’, taken from their forthcoming second album. Both Smith and Arneman have rich musical backgrounds. Arneman is a part of a grand Australian country mus...

When starting an interview, even with artists I've interviewed before, I have no expectations about which direction the conversation may take. Part of the fun and fascination of interviewing is the not-knowing: anything can happen, and it is always going to be interesting.  Before interviewing Victorian artist Matt Malone I knew that in For the Term of My Natural Life , his third LP, he'd pro...

Eloise Rayner is a singer-songwriter from Sydney and Zara Lindeman is a singer-songwriter from the Riverina region of New South Wales. They attended the Academy of Country Music together and have recorded a new song, 'Fallin' for a Cowboy'. It was great to talk to this talented pair about how they came to write together and what they have planned, and how they work together given the geographic di...