Sunburnt Country Music

After winning two Golden Guitars earlier this year, one for Female Artist of the Year, Tamworth-based singer-songwriter Ashleigh Dallas has released her thoughtful, powerful fifth album In the Moment . In some ways it is a record of Dallas's diligence in her life and work: to do her best, to make the most of each day. In others it's simply a joyous listening experience, and a continuation of what...

Freya Josephine Hollick is a singer-songwriter from Victoria who has a distinct and distinctive identity within Australian country music. Her musical style has been described as cosmic country but that is merely a label for something that is definitely country music yet absolutely her music: an embrace of the structure of country as a pathway to greater creativity. Hollick writes songs that work o...

Allan Cameron's career in music includes time spent playing with Keith Urban before the latter relocated to the USA, and recent membership of SaltbushSix, which included members of Urban's earlier band. Cameron hasn't released much music under his own name but that is now starting to change, and the recent release of the song 'Father's Eyes' shows him to be a nuanced and sensitive songwriter with...

There's a particular power to the music of Sydney-based singer-songwriter Luke O'Shea that has been acknowledged by multiple Golden Guitar Awards as well as by the longevity of his career over five albums and countless shows. Australian audiences love O'Shea's way of telling stories and imparting information with humour and pathos and respect for his subjects, and no doubt they will love his new a...

James Johnston has released a handful of singles and is already an unqualified success, with over 350 000 monthly listeners on Spotify and festival appearances and other shows lined up. He's also become a master of social media, using TikTok, in particular, to great effect - so much so that his recent single, 'Same Songs', came about entirely because of social media. The song was written and recor...

The latest single from Kelly Brouhaha is ‘Poets, Troubadours & Me’, but as I put to her when we spoke recently, that title implies that she is  not  a poet or troubadour – when she most decidedly is both, and more. Anyone who has seen Brouhaha perform will know the power of her words and her performance, and how adept she is at conjuring magic in a set, as well as on a recording, as...

Matt Scullion is a singer and a songwriter whose most recent album is  Aussie As Vol. II . His songs are not, however, confined to his albums as he’s one of Australian country music’s most prolific songwriters and in-demand co-writers – his name constantly pops up on credits. In the case of his latest single ‘From the Ashes’, taken from  Aussie As Vol. II , his co-writer was Col Finley,...

Amber Lawrence is an artist from Sydney who has five Golden Guitars and has just released her seventh studio album,  Living for the Highlights , and it’s safe to say that she is one of those artists who consistently produces music that is worth listening to. What’s also safe to say is that  Living for the Highlights  is one of the most thoughtful and sometimes magical responses to t...