Sunburnt Country Music

Titles of books, albums (or EPs), movies – any creative work – can be hard to come up with, as they need to do so much work, especially in an age when we make very quick decisions about what is going to win our attention. A title needs to not just capture our interest but convey the experience of reading that book, listening to that album, watching that movie as concisely and effectively as possib...

Earlier this year Sydney artist  Bianca Joulianou  released           the single ‘Gambling Man’, which was based on a story that’s very close to her. We had a  chat about that  at the time and also talked about Joulianou’s gig schedule. She’s been busier since then, opening for  Australian Idol  winner Dylan...

Before this year started, Brisbane outfit  Chloe Marks  & The Mayhem had not released any songs, although Marks herself has released music with duo Scotch & Cider, and as a solo artist. She also plays in other people’s bands as well as performing regularly with The Mayhem, as she’s been doing since 2023.  The band’s first single was ‘Carolina’, released at the end of Februar...

When you’re talking with Australian country music artists,  Robbie Mortimer ’s name comes up a lot, whether it’s as a festival performer or a co-writer – several artists work with him either to write songs from scratch or to enhance songs that already exist, even in part. He’s the youngest of five brothers who grew up in the Central West of New South Wales, and perhaps negotiating with four s...

Each time I organise an interview with a country music artist there is an impetus for it – usually, as you’d expect, a new release, either single or album. I do my research and write questions accordingly, but I do not go into any interview with an expectation of where the conversation will go because expectations tend to become pre-set limitations, and there’s a danger of missing out on something...

Roo Arcus  became a singer unintentionally – he didn’t know he could sing until he was somewhat strong-armed into it in a group setting. The cattle farmer from the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales has been on the land all of his life and spent his formative years listening to what he calls ‘the golden era’ of country music. Arcus spends a lot of time in the United States of America wher...

‘Songs can become our best friend. And sometimes songs can save a life.’ Laura T Davis , a singer-songwriter from northern New South Wales, says this a fair way into our interview. The reason for the interview was her latest single, ‘Not Your Fault’, and the story behind that song is that Davis is a victim-survivor of extreme sexual violence perpetrated upon her in her teens. So when she talks abo...

Each interview I do is, obviously, different because each artist is different – they have unique backgrounds, sounds and stories. Some of them turn out to be packed with lots of interesting elements – subjects I could have pursued for much longer conversations, except I’m mindful of trying to keep the chats relatively short and focused on music.  This interview with  Jo Page , a country...

Earlier this year Melbourne-based singer-songwriter  Tom Nethersole  released a country single, ‘Ardmona Rd’. I hadn’t heard of Nethersole before that – his previous releases were mainly pop songs – but I loved the song and therefore was happy to chat to him about it. It was a great pleasure to interview him, so when he told me that he had a new folk-tinged song, ‘Holiday Spirit’, writte...

Last year singer-songwriter  Saralyn  won the Mothertone Gympie Muster Talent Search, which was a terrific achievement – but she was also working on something else significant at the same time, and it wasn’t until this year that we found out what it was. Auditioning on the hit TV show  The Voice , Saralyn turned the chair of judge Ronan Keating and joined his team. Although she didn...

Team Love  are a six-piece alt-country and folk band (full list of members below) from Victoria who released their first album during the pandemic. Since then lead singer and songwriter Ruby McGrath-Lester and partner/bandmate Shaun Stolk have become parents, so they’ve had a little bit on their plate. But as I found out when I chatted with McGrath-Lester recently, they have been writing song...

Country-pop artist  Courtney Keil  started her musical life in Melbourne and now lives on the Central Coast of New South Wales, where she is an integral member of what has long been an established country music community (which includes Lyn Bowtell, Kasey Chambers, Felicity Urquhart and Josh Cunningham, and previously Beccy Cole and Shane Nicholson) and which now has more venues opening...

Tom Mac  is a country music artist from south-east Queensland who has extensive experience as both a performing and recording artist, whose story – as I found out during this interview – has many strands to it, all of them weaving together to form the artist who is now releasing the songs he’s always wanted to bring to people, including his latest single, ‘Nomadic’. Mac was in his car when we...

Newcastle, NSW artist  Sandy Louise  started her musical life on flute and picked up guitar at the age of eighteen, which is also when she started writing songs – and songwriting has become a passion of hers. Influenced by Kasey Chambers, The Cranberries and Alanis Morissette, Sandy has been writing songs ever since and is now an integral member of the Australian Songwriters Association...

Australians of a certain age who grew up in certain locations will remember El Caballo Blanco. It was a show featuring dancing white horses – hence the name – and as I grew up in Sydney, one of two Australian sites for El Caballo Blanco, I remember the TV ad, despite the fact I was only allowed to watch half an hour of television a day. That’s how effective the marketing machine of Western Austral...

If Sydney-area country music artist  Sara Berki  had only released her EP  In the Neon  earlier in the year, played her first headline tour – which was a two-set affair – as well as major festivals,  and  the NRLW Grand Final, as well as two Golden Guitar nominations (for New Talent and Female Artist of the Year) that would be a year in which she could put her feet up...

Tate Cole  grew up on a small family farm in south-east Queensland, heavily involved in the rodeo scene from a young age, following the lead of his father. At the same time as he was taking his chances on horses and cattle, he was developing his musical talents. His mother encouraged him and his brother to learn piano even before they’d started school, and while he was still in primary school...

Mak & Shar  are a duo and they are also brothers. They have been making music together since childhood, as two-thirds of Brothers3, and also pursued music and musical studies individually. So they have already achieved a lot, and they’ve also been through a lot, which we have discussed in previous interviews and they elaborate on it in this one.  Their debut album together is called&...

As the saying goes, luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Three-time Golden Guitar winner  Andrew Swift  has named his latest album  Lucky Stars , and it’s his document of the last few years in his life, which have been full of personal and professional opportunity – and the album itself is testament to the ‘preparation’ part of the equation. Swift is an accomplis...

There will never not be a lot for me to talk to Fanny Lumsden about. The two-time ARIA and multiple Golden Guitar-winning singer, songwriter, videographer, tour specialist and joy bringer from the Upper Murray region of New South Wales has a full life that has this year seen her tour the United Kingdom and Ireland, supported Paul Kelly on his European and Australian tours, record new songs and rel...

‘Lyrics first. Lyrics always first. I’m a lyrics guy beyond anything.’ Wade Forster  says this early on in our interview about his latest album,  Gooseneck Party , and what then followed was a discussion about his songwriting process – he writes almost exclusively on his own. He mentions that in the last two or three years he’s written upwards of 70 or 80 songs on his own, and the tracks...

Since multiple award-winning and -nominated country music artist  James Johnston  started releasing singles, I’ve interviewed him several times. Although we’d met in person none of those interviews have been in person before now, and it was wonderful to have the chance to chat to Johnston about his second album,  WHERE YOU’LL FIND ME , the follow-up to his smash-hit debut  RAIS...

While  Loretta Miller  has extensive experience in both recorded and live music, as the frontwoman of Melbourne band JAZZPARTY amongst other things, she hasn’t released country music before – so this is the first time I’ve interviewed her, and it was to talk about her debut album,  Loretta .  This turned out to be a long conversation because Miller has had such an interesting l...

Central Coast country music singer-songwriter  Ella Powell  began this year as a Grand Finalist in the prestigious Toyota Star Maker competition, with the final held during the Tamworth Country Music Festival. It was no surprise that Powell had this recognition: since she began releasing music in 2020 she has stood out for her songwriting as well as her vocals.  Last year she collec...

Victorian country-pop artist  Jade Gibson  has a knack for creating infectious country-pop tunes and she has performed them in all sorts of places, from festival stages to pubs. Next year she’ll be on stage at CMC Rocks. And no doubt her latest single,  ‘Perfect Crime’ , would be on the set list. Written with the song’s producer, Ben Horsley, and Nashville-based songwriter Ava Suppe...