Sunburnt Country Music

In between being one of the most in-demand musicians and music video makers in the country, Duncan Toombs found time to make his first album, Steel on Steel . It's a record of Toombs's life, the things that matter to him and those he holds close to his heart, as well as an opportunity for Toombs to demonstrate just why he's so popular with other artists, with his golden vocals and excellent musici...

Rory Phillips is from the Tumut region in New South Wales and first released music when he was barely double digits in age. The EP Cars and Guitars came out in 2017 and although Phillips and I disagreed about this, it makes for great listening. In 2020 he released the powerful single 'The Truth', which was a plea to adults to take the future seriously. His latest single, 'Because Boys', looks at w...

Central Coast, NSW-based singer-songwriter Courtney Keil released her first single, 'I Just Wanna Hold You', in 2020 and despite the challenges of that time she garnered accolades and won fans for her uplifting country-pop sound. Several singles followed, each different to the last, and they demonstrated Keil's musical range. Now those singles, and new songs, are contained in Keil's debut album, T...

Queensland artist Jazmyn is the living definition of 'multi-talented': under the banner Jazmyn Produces she makes music videos for other artists, she's a photographer, she works in branding and all sorts of other things. It seems logical, therefore, that she would expand into releasing music herself - and it's also surprising that it hasn't happened before, given how creative she is. Her debut sin...

Sara Storer is the winner of 21 Golden Guitar awards; her latest album is 2019's Raindance . Her brother Greg has joined her onstage for years, and released his own album, Backwater , in 2010. As solo artists the siblings have quite different sounds, but what they have in common is excellence in songwriting and a commitment to bringing those songs to people. They now have a joint project, and an a...

Melody Moko released her first album, The Wreckage , in 2017 and followed with Two Kids and a Radio in 2021, winning a Golden Guitar for Best New Talent to go with the fans she had already made supporting artists like Fanny Lumsden then headlining her own shows. Through those two albums Moko established herself as a songwriter with gravitas and a captivating singer. Her third album, Suburban Dream...

Lyn Bowtell is one of the most beloved artists in Australian music, let alone Australian country music, and that is with very good reason: she is an exceptional artist, collaborator, mentor and leader within the industry. Those who have been captivated by her voice will forever be fans, and those who have been taught by her or had access to her knowledge and experience can only benefit from them....

Cairns, Queensland artist Amber McIntosh has released several powerful country pop singles over the past couple of years, starting with 'Painted Me Grey'. The latest is 'Wasted'. The song was inspired by Patsy Cline's iconic 'Crazy' and its title takes on two meanings in the lyrics. McIntosh's voice is full of regret and positivity all at once, and it's an intriguing mix, so it was great to have t...

Although Central Coast, NSW singer-songwriter Jamie Lindsay grew up listening to country music, there was a time in his life when he veered away from it, thinking it was no longer the right music for him. Over the past few years, though, he has embraced his musical origins and now honours them with his new single, 'The is Who I Am'. Lindsay is always interesting to talk to about the many facets of...

In June last year Alan Fletcher released the EP Dispatches not long after he'd enjoyed playing his first shows at the Tamworth Country Music Festival, supported by his producers Lachlan Bryan and Damian Cafarella. It was the association with Bryan and Cafarella which led, somewhat organically, to the creation of Fletcher's new album, The Point , and those two men, with other members of The Wildes,...

Sydney-based singer-songwriter Cassidy-Rae has started the year with her next chapter: that is, the single 'The Next Chapter'. As with her previous singles, 'The Next Chapter' strikes the balance of being entertaining and thoughtful. Cassidy-Rae has just returned from a busy Tamworth Country Music Festival and we spoke about that, as well as her plans for the chapters beyond this one. And even tho...

One of the many great things about the Tamworth Country Music Festival is that it affords festival goers the chance to discover new artists of all ages, either busking or playing their own gigs or at someone else's. That's how I first saw the now 19-year-old Charlie Fittler when he was quite a few years younger than that, and I was impressed by his talent and also how much he clearly enjoyed playi...

Around three years ago Max Jackson released her debut album, Life of the Party , which was an outstanding collection of country-pop songs, and she has now released a new EP, Out Here . What happened in the interim was that Jackson won the 2022 Toyota Star Maker competition, announced during the delayed Tamworth Country Music Festival in April last year. Since then Jackson has, as the title of her...

Melbourne-based, Aotearoa New Zealand-raised Kerryn Fields recently released the single and video 'Until You' - it's a love song that is also an example of the joy to be found on the album it comes from, Water . As the album's title suggests, Fields is interested in the elements - earth, water, fire, air, ether - and while her songs are not necessarily focused on them she certainly incorporates th...

At the Toyota Star Marker Grand Final at this year's Tamworth Country Music Festival in April, Loren Ryan took the stage as one of the ten finalists. She's local to the Tamworth area so the very loud cheers could have been for that when she took the stage - but after she finished the reception was undoubtedly for her performance, which was impressive and impassioned. Ryan did not win that night bu...

A few weeks ago I interviewed Matt Cornell about the 2023 Country on Keppel festival, for which he is a key artist. At the time he had laryngitis so we couldn't talk for long, but given Cornell's extensive CV - member of the Baby Animals, of Golden Guitar-nominated duo Cornell & Carr, and music director for Adam Brand for many years - there was more to talk about. So when he released 'Stick Ar...

Perth, WA duo Scarlet's Way is made up of singer Katey Gabel and guitarist Shayne Savic. Their musical backgrounds are different but their influences are broad and shared, and these have resulted in a powerhouse rock/blues/country sound that has been documented on the 2017 EP Open Road and now on the single 'Doin' it for Love'. Gabel and Savic write together and perform in various permutations apa...

Chloe Styler is an artist with impeccable country-pop instincts and the songs to show it, having previously released singles 'When Your Light Burns', 'Patient Heart' and 'Sweden' between 2018 and 2020. She has now released a seven-track EP, Side A , with five irresistible originals and acoustic versions of two of those songs. As I discovered when we spoke recently, it's taken some time for Side A...

At a certain point in my recent interview with Sydney-based artist James Keith about his new single, 'Life is Good Today', he said, 'You've only got one life - you've got to have a crack.' Keith has not only had a crack at music but thrown himself into it with passion and commitment, having played live for years even while working full time as a sportsman. 'Life is Good Today' is his first single,...

Tamworth local Ashleigh Dallas won the 2022 Golden Guitar for Female Artist of the Year and she will be attending the 2023 awards as a four-time nominee: for Female Artist of the Year once more, as well as Vocal Collaboration of the Year for 'Let the Girls Sing' with Kirsty Lee Akers and Amber Lawrence, and Toyota Album of the Year and Traditional Country Album of the Year for her album In the Mom...

Although we're meant to be past the worst of the pandemic and all the change is has wrought, that hasn't necessarily meant that everything is back to normal and hunky-dory. People are tired - perhaps a little fed up - and given what's been going on that's understandable. Yet part of what makes musicians, in particular, such an important part of every culture and now more so than ever is their abil...

Christmas songs aren't for everyone, of course - not everyone celebrates that particular holiday. And even those who do may not turn on the Christmas tunes until at least Christmas Eve. But 2022 Golden Guitar winner - and four-time 2023 Golden Guitar nominee - Angus Gill makes a persuasive case for cranking up the Christmas music well in advance of 25 December with his new EP , The Gilly Season ....

Jemma Beech is a singer-songwriter now living in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales but for a while she lived in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, driving hours to play gigs in between driving dump trucks in the mines. Her experiences there shaped her as a performer and a songwriter, and since the 2018 release of her debut album That's Just Me she has been working on new music. Her...

When an artist loves what they do, you tend to hear it in the music - and from the sound of Jade Holland's new song, 'Oh My Heart', she really loves what she does. It's an infectious song that features Holland's powerful yet smooth vocals, turning a tale of heartbreak into an upbeat track that is a great successor to her previous single, 'Summertime, Sunshine and You'. The songs indicated a more p...

Singer-songwriter Ella Powell lives on the Central Coast of New South Wales yet her music is taking her further afield - spending time on the road, which is no doubt inspiration enough for her new single, 'Drive', which has arrived just in time for the Australian summer when other people will be on road trips and looking for just the right music to play. As with previous singles such as 'Paper Tow...