Sunburnt Country Music

There is many a songwriter in this fair land who will have either written a song with Jen Mize or been mentored by her in their songwriting. Mize has been a regular mentor and teacher at Song Muster and the DAG Sheep Station, amongst other places, and the number of times her name comes up is a clear indicator of how wonderful a collaborator she must be. Collaboration is also at the heart of The Rough N’ Tumble, the seven-piece band with whom she released an eponymous album in 2023. Jen Mize & The Rough N’ Tumble are back with new album Tilt, which will indeed make you tilt and sway, and swoon, and in this new interview we talk about not only this album but Mize’s collaboration with band member Jeremy Edwards, a solo artist in his own right with whom she produced the album. At the time we were speaking Mize was due to perform at the Gympie Muster, which has now passed (due to a few other commitments I wasn’t able to publish this interview before that took place) and she had already mentored at this year’s Song Muster. She has a fully committed creative life, which is no doubt why she came up with a phrase I loved, during the conversation: ‘creative gym’. I’ll let you find out in which context it was mentioned!Mize is always wonderful to talk to, in part because she’s so passionate about music and the people she meets through it. Plus it’s always great to hear how collaborations happen and great music is made. I hope you enjoy our chat.Listen to Tilt by Jen Mize & The Rough N’ Tumble on Apple MusicListen to Tilt by Jen Mize & The Rough N’ Tumble on SpotifyListen to Tilt by Jen Mize & The Rough N’ Tumble on YouTube

Early in my interview with Chris Cobb, who has just released his debut album, More Questions than Answers, he speaks about his childhood in Bulolo in Papua New Guinea. ‘Music was very much a part of me,’ he says, then he went on to talk about how there was a local bluegrass scene, and a band in which most players had instruments with two strings only. ‘I got lost in it,’ he tells me, and being surrounded by so much music led him to want to play guitar from a young age – although not the child-sized guitar his father brought home for him! Cobb has lived in music since then, although it hasn’t always been his focus – he worked in the corporate sector for a while, before moving to Queensland’s Sunshine Coast with his wife and children, then deciding to pursue music more fully. This included appearing on The Voice last year and now releasing his debut album, More Questions Than Answers.The album is a mixture of covers and originals, with Australian country music legend James Blundell appearing on ‘Love Letter to Morobe’ and rising star Felicity Kircher on opening track ‘Linger’. The covers are beautifully done, and once you know the reasons why each has been included – as Cobb reveals in this interview – you will further appreciate the richness of his music and story. More Questions Than Answers is an album for those who love the art of singing, and those who want to be taken on a journey. There’s a variety of styles on the album, and all of them radiating from Cobb’s authentic appreciation and understanding of the music that has come before him and that he is immersed in now. Listen to More Questions Than Answers on Apple MusicListen to More Questions Than Answers on SpotifyListen to More Questions Than Answers on YouTube

‘Saturday night’s the gooseneck party – this is the Sunday after.’ That’s how award-winning country music artist Wade Forster described his new album, The Aftermath, to me in this interview. The album comes fairly hot on the heels of his last, Gooseneck Party, hence his explanation, and he wrote them close together too, recording The Aftermath earlier this year, straight after his 2026 Golden Guitar wins for Male Artist of the Year and New Talent of the Year.Gooseneck Party certainly wasn’t entirely a party album, but of the two The Aftermath is the heartbreaker. There is no wallowing on it, though – it’s a clear-eyed look at mistakes made and an even clearer view of what’s ahead.‘When you’re hungover, you don’t need to tell everyone “I’ve been an idiot”,’ says Forster in this chat. ‘They already know.’ This is, he says, how the self-pity that might have been in some of these songs was taken away and they became about feeling other things. It’s a remarkable collection of songs and, as when I last spoke to Forster, I loved hearing about his songwriting process. He’s mainly a solo songwriter; only two of the tracks on The Aftermath are co-writes (‘Heaven ’57’ with Piper Butcher and ‘October’ with Ellis Undercover), and storytelling is at his core. The effectiveness of his music is not only in the lyrics, though – it’s in the way they’re delivered, and the way he uses his voice to do that. Then there is his live performance, which is quite something – Forster is very much alert to the fact that people spend their hard-earned money to come to a show, and he wants to make it worth their while. This is no doubt part of why he’s already developed a large following overseas – he was about to take off to the USA when we spoke, and he has shows there this month – and also why he picks up more fans all the time in Australia.The Aftermath is out now through Community Music and if you’d like to see Forster live, the dates are: WADE FORSTERTHE AFTERMATH TOUR 2026With The Wet Whistles and Piper ButcherFor tickets and further information head to livenation.com.au Astor Theatre, PerthThursday 22 October Metro Theatre, SydneyThursday 29 October – NEW DATEFriday 30 October – SOLD OUT Fortitude Music Hall, BrisbaneFriday 13 November Hindley St. Music Hall, AdelaideFriday 20 November Forum, MelbourneSaturday 21 NovemberListen to The Aftermath on Apple MusicListen to The Aftermath on SpotifyListen to The Aftermath on YouTube

From the start of the enterprise that became Sunburnt Country Music, I was a fan of The McClymonts, the band Brooke McClymont formed with her sisters, Sam and Molly. Their country-pop songs were always clever and fun and musically unforgettable, due to their way with a melody and their harmonies. I saw them play live as often as I could. Thus, when Brooke released an album with her husband, Adam Eckersley, I rushed to listen to it and discovered a work that had the excellence that they had both produced separately – Eckersley with his eponymous band – yet had a unique sound and sensibility. The songs on that first self-titled album would not have belonged with The McClymonts or The Adam Eckersley Band – they were definitively Brooke and Adam’s alone. It was an exciting development for a music fan, and it continued with their second album, Up, Down & Sideways, which produced chart-topping, award-winning hits such as ‘Star of the Show’ (written with their daughter, Tiggy) and ‘Memory Lane’.One of the hardest things for any artist to do – let alone two together – is not only be consistent but create something different that is as good or better than what has come before. This involves risk, especially when there is a well-established fan base. And while Brooke and Adam have big, bold personalities, they are serious about their music so the risk is real. In the case of their third album, the newly release Souls on Show, the risk has manifested as a rich album about life and marriage and committing to make the best of both. As with previous albums, they take relatable subjects and apply their talents to them and the resulting songs are so good because they take the risk. They push themselves to make the music better each time. It’s a compliment to their audience, because what also seems true of them both is that they love that connection with their audience. If we show up, they will too, in spades.In this new interview they talk about their creative process and how The Wang, where they host groups of people and perform songs old and new for them, has contributed to it, and their regard for each other as artists and people is so clear. All of this contributes to the quality of the music they produce. Live, Brooke and Adam are never not great, whether it’s with their band or as a duo (including at The Wang, where you can see them up close and free flowing in the best way). I’ve seen their band show enough times to know that it can leave a person high for days, on the quality of the music and the fact that Brooke and Adam always seem to be having the most fun every single time. They are touring in support of Souls on Show and you can find the details here: https://www.brookeandadam.com/ontour.I used to think I was perhaps too biased about The McClymonts, but then decided that I was biased because they were so good. So perhaps I’m biased about Brooke and Adam too – but it’s because they’re so good. In this world, with so much information coming at us, with so many options for our time and attention, they make it easy for us to choose their music by accepting nothing less than excellence in themselves. For those of us who live and breathe music, there’s nothing better.Souls on Show is out now through Universal Music Australia.Listen to Souls on Show on Apple MusicListen to Souls on Show on SpotifyListen to Souls on Show on YouTube

Victorian Andrew Swift has released four ARIA chart-topping albums and won three Golden Guitars, in amongst touring regularly – although later it’s been a lighter tour schedule than usual, as he’s now the proud dad of Valentine.Swift has built his fan base with both releases and touring, and the temptation for any artist in that position must be to continue in the same vein with the songs he writes and records. Yet for his latest single, ‘Brick by Brick’, Swift has changed musical direction – although still within country music – to bluegrass. Not just this song, either: his forthcoming album has been produced entirely without electric instruments by his longtime band member (and highly regarded producer) Damian Cafarella.In this new interview Swift tells me that ‘Brick by Brick’ was written nearly two years ago in a co-write at his dining table with his fiancée, Simone Sordello, alongside Gretta Ziller, Melanie Dyer and Jackson James. The lyrics grew out of a shared frustration among the co-writers with someone who'd repeatedly tested their goodwill. ‘This song is by no means a diss track,’ Swift says. ‘It’s just how we were feeling in that moment.’The song was put on the back burner as Swift finished his most recent album, Lucky Stars. Yet ‘I’ve been wanting to do a bluegrass project,’ as he says, tracing the idea back to revisiting his 2015 debut, Call for the Cavalry, on a flight and hearing its Americana roots calling him back.Currently seven songs into the new record, Swift is balancing studio time around fatherhood, working sessions in around Valentine's daycare days. His live shows will lean towards a solo or duo storyteller format in the near term, with plans to rework older favourites like ‘Runaway Train’ and ‘Head Full of Honey’ into the new sound for select performances, including a bluegrass hoedown in Tamworth.You’ll find Swift performing at Groundwater Country Music Festival on Broadbeach on the Gold Coast, held on 17 and 18 October. See below for the full list of tour dates.Listen to ‘Brick by Brick’ on Apple MusicListen to ‘Brick by Brick’ on SpotifyListen to ‘Brick by Brick’ on YouTubeSEE ANDREW SWIFT LIVESaturday 5th September - Noojee Hotel, Noojee VICFriday 11th September - Odessa’s, Creswick VICSaturday 12th September - Bells Beach Brewing Company, Torquay VICFriday 18th September - Golden Vine Hotel, Bendigo VICSaturday 19th September - Young Street Tavern, Frankston VICFriday 2nd October - Sooki Lounge, Belgrave VICSaturday October 3rd - The Bend Classic, Tailem Bend SASaturday October 10th - The Oaks, Albion Park Rail NSWSunday October 11th - Camden Hotel, Camden NSWSaturday 17th October - Groundwater Country Music Festival, Broadbeach QLDSunday 18th October - Groundwater Country Music Festival, Broadbeach QLDTuesday 19th January - Bluegrass Hoedown, Tamworth Country Music Festival NSWWednesday 20th January - The Longyard Hotel, Tamworth NSWThursday 25th March - Friday 9th April - Singapore to Sydney Country Music Cruise**Tickets on sale now and available via www.andrewswift.com.au**

When I was researching this interview with Devonport, Tasmania-based country-rock artist Zac Weeks, the New Zealand Gold Guitar Awards – and his success at them – kept coming up, the point where I then went looking for information about where he was from in New Zealand. There was none, and therefore I decided that I’d start the interview by asking about this.It turns out that Weeks is very much from Tasmania but on a suggestion from some New Zealand country music artists he met at the CMAA Academy of Country Music, he entered into the Gold Guitar Awards and emerged as a runner-up in the open singer-songwriter category, which is very good going for a first-time entrant. It was at Academy that Weeks’s latest single, ‘Long Neck Long Gone’, came together. The title had sat in his Notes app for four years; it was a line borrowed from a friend as they were finishing a ginger beer on a night out in Devonport. At Academy Weeks was paired with in-demand songwriter Matt Scullion, and the song took shape within minutes. ‘What about this: “long neck, long gone, she left me alone”,’ Weeks recalls Scullion offering, before the two wrote the rest of the track together.While Weeks has previously recorded with producer Matt Fell, who is also based in Tasmania, he recorded the latest single with Jacky McCormack, who is on the Central Coast of New South Wales. At the time we spoke Weeks was currently touring Tasmania – and he does play quite a lot around the Apple Isle – before heading to the Gympie Music Muster, which starts on Thursday 27 August. He’s already had an action-packed year, and no doubt Gympie will provide even more motivation for him to continue performing and writing – so stand by for future releases!Listen to Zac Weeks on Apple MusicListen to Zac Weeks on SpotifyListen to Zac Weeks on YouTube

Victorian artist Madeline Leman’s latest country-folk album, Ripen on the Vine, was recorded in 2023, and while Leman has released some singles since then, the album needed a little more time to emerge – for a very important reason. As she tells me early in this interview, her young son was unwell for several months, so the album’s release was necessarily delayed.Upon release it went to number 4 in the ARIA Country chart and number 5 on the Australia Indie chart, and Leman has also played shows in support of it, no doubt swelling the numbers of fans for her intelligent, often whimsical music that combines beautifully crafted lyrics with rich musicality.Leman grew up in a musical family – her parents met while playing in a band together, and were folk artists. They dubbed her the ‘human radio’ because she would sing so often from such a young age. Piano was her first instrument, and Missy Higgins a big early influence, so Leman began writing songs on piano.She then taught herself guitar and, while at university, listened to a lot of country music. At that time in Melbourne the alt-country/Americana scene was at its height, but it was a folk artist with whom she made the most lasting connection. Sharing a house with folk artist Leah Senior, Leman played her a song she’d written; this led Senior to Leman to play in a folk duo with her. Leman also talks about recording certain songs on the album and the choices that were made musically and lyrically, and we talk about clothes – if you watch the interview rather than listening to it, you’ll see that her clothing choices are as astute as her musical ones!It was a great pleasure to meet Leman, who is a passionate, articulate artist and one whose music is enriching on so many levels. And listen to the end to hear her talk about the line-dancing class she teaches …Listen to/buy Ripen on the Vine on BandcampListen to Ripen on the Vine on Apple MusicListen to Ripen on the Vine on YouTube

Georgia Scarlett and Joel Spence are two Queensland country artists who have been releasing solo music independently for several years, and who have now found a creative partnership that has produced two singles which have taken them in a musical direction that is distinct from their own music while preserving their musical identities. The first single is ‘The Wise Folks Say’, which was the reason for our recent interview. The second, released after this interview was recorded, is ‘Honey Let’s Go’.Their story begins at the Song Muster in Gympie, which has now generated several outstanding songs and songwriting partnerships that bring established and emerging songwriters together. Scarlett and Spence were placed in the same writing group and produced ‘The Wise Folks Say’ in a single session. ‘This spark just connected instantly once we started talking our experiences, our journeys through life, some of the wisdom that’s been passed down to us,’ says Scarlett. ‘Every verse is a different life lesson. It has that old-fashioned country wisdom that I really love.’The duo brought the song to producer Kelsey Berrington. The result is a song in which the duo’s voices are given the space to meld and separate as needed, revealing the way they balance and complement each other. Spence grew up in the Lockyer Valley, west of Brisbane, on a cattle and grain property. He has been writing and recording since his teens, and also has an academic interest in the power of music, conducting research into how community-led songwriting and performance can foster healing, cultural justice, and empowerment for First Nations Peoples in remote communities. Scarlett is originally from Bundaberg and grew up learning piano but found that she was better suited to clarinet, and has since added guitar and harmonica to her repertoire. She released her debut solo album, Rhythm of Life, last year. Scarlett and Spence’s collaboration on ‘The Wise Folks Say’ worked so well that they have now released a second single together, ‘Honey Let’s Go’. Listen to ‘The Wise Folks Say’ on Apple MusicListen to ‘The Wise Folks Say’ on SpotifyListen to ‘The Wise Folks Say’ on YouTube