Sunburnt Country Music

Faith Williams is an artist from the Central Coast of New South Wales who last year released an outstanding debut EP, Queen of Hearts. She is now set to release her first album later this year, and the first single from it is 'Holy Grail'.When Queen of Hearts arrived in early 2025, Williams released it independently and, as she says in this new interview, ‘I didn't have a lot of knowledge into the industry at all. I was fairly green.’ In the year since, she has quietly accumulated the kind of experience that can't be taught: festival appearances she didn't expect, a New Songwriter of the Year win at the Tamworth Country Music Festival, radio play on ABC Country, and – just recently – being added to the playlist at Triple J, nearly a year to the day after the EP's release. That growth is also evident in her approach to the new album, which was recorded in September at Rabbit Hole Studio with producer Brandon Dodd, who also helmed Queen of Hearts. Eleven tracks were laid down in three days — an efficiency Williams credits to arriving with her songs fully formed and a clear sense of what she wanted. The album features one co-write, 'Black Fire', written with Millie Mills at a songwriting retreat run by Lyn Bowtell — otherwise the writing is entirely her own.The lead single, 'Holy Grail', is a love song that deliberately resists the conventions of the genre. Williams describes it as being about ‘choosing real over ritual’ – the kind of love that doesn't need to be dressed up or explained. It's also an example of what makes her writing distinctive: she's drawn to stories and characters, to the specific detail that opens into something universal. Her song 'Dear August', about the loss of a pregnancy, has that quality; so does 'Joe', which she traces back to a mental image of a stranger at a bus stop, telling their life to someone they'll never see again.At the time of recording, Williams was in the last trimester of pregnancy, due at the end of March. She plans to take a few months off before returning to gigging, with an album launch and a return to Tamworth pencilled in for later in the year. I was hugely impressed by Queen of Hearts when it released, so needless to say I’m excited to hear the album, and to see Williams release a wider audience, as she deserves.Listen to ‘Holy Grail’ on Apple MusicListen to ‘Holy Grail’ on SpotifyListen to ‘Holy Grail’ on YouTube

Mentioned in this episode:Max Jackson – new album Dangerous in Denim Brooke McClymont and Adam Eckersley – new single ‘Now I’ve Said It’ Morgan Evans - ‘Steel Town’ Saralyn – ‘Cowgirl Blues’ - THIS TRACK PLAYS AT THE END OF THE EPISODE Jo Page – ‘When We Knew Nothing’ Jasmine Sparkes – ‘You’ve Got Time to Kiss Me’ Jake Whittaker - ‘Boots On’  Tour news:Sara Storer, Shane Nicholson and Shane Howard - For the Sake of the Song. Limited shows in New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT in May.

ALBUM REVIEW: The Hardest Thing by Catherine BrittThis is the audio version of the review (and an addition to the types of content available on the podcast). If you'd like to read it instead, you can find it on Substack or the website. The Hardest Thing is out now through Red Rebel Music/MGM Distribution. Listen on Apple Music Listen on Spotify 

🎵 COUNTRY MUSIC NEWS ROUNDUP 🎵Six BIG new releases you need to know about:KINGSWOOD - the new track ‘Highway Signs’ is out from this hard-working country-rock band. They’ll have a new album later this year and no doubt you can catch them from the road this year.WICKER SUITE released ‘Younger Me’ ft. Ashleigh Dallas—a heartfelt anthem about mental health & self-compassion. Catch them on tour through QLD, NSW, VIC & NZ!BECCY COLE announces first solo album in 7 years! Through The Haze arrives 13 March (vinyl 27 March). Raw, honest storytelling exploring heartbreak, healing & resilience. New single ‘The Gardener & The Flower’ out now.BUD ROKESKY announces his second album Dusk (out on 8 April) + Australian tour in May. New single ’45’ is out now. TYLA RODRIGUES has a new EP, Hold On Tight, out now + major festival slots at CMC Rocks and more later this year. She’s also just had her first Golden Guitar nomination. Full album coming later in 2026!FAITH WILLIAMS - impressive new single ‘Holy Grail’ from her forthcoming debut album. She released the excellent EP Queen of Hearts last year. 

Melbourne five-piece The Paper Kites formed in 2009, and released their first album, States, in 2013. They have spent several years touring the world and their music has been streamed over two billion times. They have a new album, their seventh, If You Go There, I Hope You Find It, and recently I spoke to keyboard player/ guitarist/ vocalist Christina Lacy about it.  Ahead of the album, three singles were released: ‘Change Of The Wind’, ‘Shake Off The Rain’, ‘Every Town’ and ‘When The Lavender Blooms’. The first of these has a video which refers to the story of how the album was named, and I asked Lacy about this during the interview.  Lacy, who is a founding member of the band, also talks about how The Paper Kites came to write and record – and name – the album, and we discuss how she balances her creative life with motherhood, and the importance of carving out ‘time to be creative and time to be inspired’, as she puts it – and I love that she made that distinction!Lacy was generous with her insights and it was clear, talking to her, that the band has lost none of its passion for making music together.  The Paper Kites play Twilight at Taronga in Sydney on Friday 6 February and will tour the United Kingdom, Ireland, Europe and Scandinavia in February and March before joining Bernard Fanning in Brisbane on 15 March. They will then tour the USA and Canada. All details are on their website.  If You Go There, I Hope You Find It is out now through Sony Music Australia.  Listen to If You Go There, I Hope You Find It on Apple Music Listen to If You Go There, I Hope You Find It on Spotify Listen to If You Go There, I Hope You Find It on YouTube

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 possible.The debut EP from KYARNA, a folk-country artist from the Yuin Nation on the far south coast of New South Wales, is called Lost Soul Love Letters. It’s such an evocative title, prompting us to wonder: Who is the lost soul? Who are the love letters for? Happily I was able to ask KYARNA these questions, and also talk to her about each of the six tracks on this EP, which more than lives up to the promise of its title. (This interview was recorded in late 2025, so when KYARNA mentions ‘this year’, it’s 2026 she’s referring to.)From the first track, ‘Meet in Love’, we know we’re in for stories that are going to take hold of us and which are probably going to be bittersweet, in that they may make us smile in recognition – or cry for the same reason. There is quite a story behind this song, and each of the songs that follow it. KYARNA recorded the EP with producer Matt Fell in Tasmania, and there’s a story there too. I’ll let you find that out from her in this interview.KYARNA has many more songs – we talk about the prolific nature of her songwriting – so it will be fascinating to see what she decides to record next. These six songs will keep you going for a while, because they are rich in story and meaning, but, of course, a fan always wants more! A note on the sound: we had some wi-fi glitches in the first half. I edited out some but you’ll hear a little bit of it.Listen to Lost Soul Love Letters on Apple MusicListen to Lost Soul Love Letters on SpotifyListen to Lost Soul Love Letters on YouTube

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 Wright as well as Shannon Noll, Diesel and The Wet Whistles. That’s in addition to playing regular spots at venues such as Jolene’s in Sydney’s CBD and with Out West Country, which is a Sydney-based events company. Joulianou’s latest single is the very catchy ‘Bad Routine’, which is about wanting to break free of something – such as a relationship – but being pulled back into bad habits. It was produced by Jake Davey, who is himself recording and releasing music, and he plays on ‘Bad Routine’ as well. As they recorded two songs, another single is in the pipeline for release in 2026. In this new interview about ‘Bad Routine’, I asked Joulianou if she has any bad routines of her own – you’ll have to watch or listen to it to find out what she said – but it’s probably fair to say that she’s mostly in good routines, given she fits her music career in and around full-time work as a mental health support worker.Joulianou is heading to the Tamworth Country Musical Festival in January and has a few shows lined up, including at the popular Riverside Stage, and she’s making plans for more writing – especially co-writing – next year. And she’s open to writing with anyone, so if you’re keen to write with her, you can find her on her socials!Listen to ‘Bad Routine’ on Apple MusicListen to ‘Bad Routine’ on SpotifyListen to ‘Bad Routine’ on YouTube

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 February this year, and since then they’ve released ‘Skip September’ – for which Marks and I had a chat – and ‘Porch Light’. Now with the release of fourth single ‘Cheaper Than Therapy’, it emerges that these four songs form a story arc, with ‘Cheaper Than Therapy’ putting the full stop on that tale. Each song is different to the others, but the thread is there when you listen to them back to back.In my previous interview with Marks I talked to her about her fascinating creative life, which includes photography and extreme sports, so you can head to that if you’d like to find out more. In this chat I concentrated on the brace of singles, with a focus on ‘Cheaper Than Therapy’, which has the refrain ‘When I get stoned I talk to God’. Marks and I talked about belief systems and what does and doesn’t get mentioned in public, or even to friends and family. As she says, the song has ‘opened up a strange but wonderful conversation within the band’. All four songs were produced by Michael Muchow, and Marks has new material that will see her heading back into the studio in 2026. That studio time will be slotted in around her performance schedule, and that of The Mayhem, which includes dates at the 2026 Tamworth Country Music Festival (see below). They’re also playing on New Year’s Eve at Chattahoochee Joe’s, one of the homes of country music in Brisbane. See Chloe Marks & The Mayhem live:Wednesday Dec 31 – Chattahoochee Joes – Brisbane QLDFriday Jan 16, 2026 – Tamworth CMF – TudorHotel – Tamworth NSWSaturday Jan 17, 2026 – Tamworth CMF –Tudor Hotel – Tamworth NSWSunday Jan 18, 2026 – Tamworth CMF – JoeMaguires – Tamworth NSWTuesday Jan 20, 2026 - Tamworth CMF – JoeMaguires – Tamworth NSWListen to Chloe Marks & The Mayhem on Apple MusicListen to Chloe Marks & The Mayhem on SpotifyWatch the official music video for ‘Cheaper Than Therapy’ on YouTube

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 siblings led to him being able to work well in a collaborative environment. Or maybe it was growing up in an NRL family, and having team sports as the default. That same environment also introduced him to poetry – his father writes it – as well as country living, which has influenced the stories he tells, and hard work.Mortimer has several irons in the fire, for himself and with others – but, as he says in this new interview, he’s used to ‘squeezing absolutely everything out of a 24-hour day’. He says his father and brothers are wired the same way: ‘all gas, no brakes’. That ability to make the most of time and opportunities is married with Mortimer’s creative drive, which he has in spades. And it is a creative drive more than a drive for success because, he's discovered, ‘Everything I’ve done for the artistry of it has gone really, really well’, whereas anything he’s created while trying to replicate the success of something else has not fired the way he’s hoped.Mortimer has released several singles this year, the latest of which is ‘The World Keeps Turning’, to go with the ones he released last year – pretty much an album’s worth across that time, but he’s looking ahead to what’s new and what’s next. This is a long conversation because there was a lot to chat about – as there would be, given his work rate! There is much more to come from Robbie Mortimer, so this chat is by way of closing out a big year and looking ahead to an even bigger one in 2026.Listen to Robbie Mortimer on Apple MusicListen to Robbie Mortimer on SpotifyWatch/listen to Robbie Mortimer on YouTube