Sunburnt Country Music

Sibling harmonies are a form of magic – there’s a synergy that happens within families who sing together that makes for unforgettable sounds that are impossible to replicate. Brisbane sister trio Vixens of Fall have been creating that sort of magic for a decade, embracing it in the title of their 2023 debut album, Magick in the Chaos, and in their lives. The latest single for sisters Nina, Wren and Lulu is ‘Midnight Cowgirls’, and might be said to have come about through a form of magic known as manifestation. All three Vixens love to wear the clothing label Tree of Life and have done for years. Then they were contacted by the owner of the company, asking if they’d like to be the faces of a new line called Midnight Cowgirls. The Vixens already had a songwriting session booked with regular collaborator Sally Barris and decided to write a song to go with the clothing line, and their latest single, ‘Midnight Cowgirls’, was born.The song was produced by Rod McCormack, who also produced their first album – and their second, Fox Hollow, which will be released in November and which will feature ‘Midnight Cowgirls’. He’s like family, the sisters tell me in this new interview, which was conducted not long before Nina was due to give birth to her second child.The Vixens are a tight unit, as is evident in this interview and when they perform. One of the wonderful things about them is how clearly they love not only making music together but simply being around each other. There is so much strength in that sort of bond – and unlimited potential. Or magic. Whatever you’d like to call it, no doubt you will enjoy meeting Vixens of Fall.Listen to Vixens of Fall on Apple MusicListen to Vixens of Fall on SpotifyListen to Vixens of Fall on YouTubeFor more Sunburnt Country Music:InstagramFacebook YouTubewebsite Substack Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From the Central West of New South Wales, William Alexander won his first Golden Guitar earlier this year in the category of Bush Ballad of the Year, for the song ‘Wild Roan Brumby’, which he wrote with his good friend Pete Denahy. For those of us who have observed Alexander’s career, and listened to his releases starting in 2023, there was no surprise in the award itself – only in the fact that it had taken so long. For three years may not seem like much, but when the talent is as evident as it is in this artist, it feels like more than enough for recognition to mature.In the songs on his latest album, Along the Boundary Line, Alexander has a way of writing about life and work on the land that suggests someone who not only observes and feels and thinks but can articulate the result of all of that. He’s alert to the world, in other words, and curious about it too. Not that he’s always recorded his own songs: he began by releasing cover versions.‘I just always felt like I hadn’t earned the right to be the songwriter yet,’ he tells me in this new interview. ‘I was too busy discovering old songs and absorbing that.’In Along the Boundary Line Alexander creates songs in a traditional style that cover aspects of modern life, marrying a way of life that is much older with contemporary concerns. It’s almost a juxtaposition, until you realise he’s likely documenting his own experiences. As an example: ‘All I Stand to Lose’, which was a single, is about the push and pull of having the urge to go roaming yet cherishing what’s at home, and is the acme of bittersweetness. Yet Alexander doesn’t linger there, instead moving onto the jaunty ‘Horse and Hobble Days’, and both songs are alive with detail. Alexander is also a wonderful singer, both recorded and live, a balladeer who is also a crooner. When I ask him about his voice in our recent chat, he says, ‘I think what you're mentioning is probably just the way I was told to speak as a kid.’ He had, he says, a grandfather who insisted on no mumbling, and it’s ‘coming through in the way I sing’.Along the Boundary Line was recorded largely with just Alexander and producer Lindsay Waddington in the room first, building each song before adding esteemed players including Brendan Radford, Jen Mize and Michel Rose. The result is a collection of songs that immediately allow the listener in and invite them back. Although there’s a distinct lack of yodelling – something that featured on his first album, The Singing Stockman – which I ask him about.They haunt you, these new songs, in the way that they put you in the landscape with its space and silence and also its sounds and the life that’s humming all around you yet not always evident to the eye. That’s achieved through the production, sure, but it all starts with the artist’s intention – with the stories he has to tell and the way he wants to tell them. The album is an outstanding work. It was a pleasure to talk to Alexander about those songs, and much more. Buy Along the Boundary Line on BandcampListen to Along the Boundary Line on Apple MusicListen to Along the Boundary Line on SpotifyListen to Along the Boundary Line on YouTubeFor more Sunburnt Country Music:InstagramFacebook YouTubewebsite Substack Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Suburban Cowgirl, the latest album from beloved country music star Amber Lawrence, topped the Australian album and country album charts open release, and has held its spot. This will be no surprise to anyone who heard the singles leading up to it, including ‘That’s Cowgirl to Me’, which contains the line ‘I am the boss of my own wild frontier’ – which is a true statement when it comes to Lawrence, who has charted her course in country music with hard work, a wonderful songwriting talent and a live show that never fails to leave the audience uplifted. She has constantly chosen to go further into her own wild frontier and leads by example, as a generous performer and artist who lifts up those around her, including emerging artists.If it sounds like I’m a fan – I am. Not because it’s a default position but because I’ve seen Lawrence play live many times, I’ve interviewed her several times, and I love her albums. I also see her at shows around Sydney, so we know each other, well enough that I worked with her on the children’s book that she has released in tandem with the book (this work was in an unpaid advisory capacity, and came about because I work in book publishing and I’m a published author). The book is divine and as inspiring as her music and shows. It could not have been that without everything that has come before in Lawrence’s life and career, nor without the album that is its reason for existing. Suburban Cowgirl is chock full of anthems and singalong choruses. It has tributes to the joys to be found in everyday life (‘This Suburban Lifetime’ and ‘Smallest Years’) and the gratitude we can practise for that, to love of friends and family and home, and of her fans (‘We Ride At Dawn’, ‘Sing Me Home’). It also features a lovely duet with traditional country artist William Alexander (‘I’ve Got a Hankering’).I talk to Lawrence about all of this in our new interview. It is always wonderful to talk to her. She is one of the greats. Listen to Suburban Cowgirl on Apple MusicListen to Suburban Cowgirl on SpotifyListen to Suburban Cowgirl on YouTubeFor more Sunburnt Country Music:InstagramFacebook YouTubewebsite Substack Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Some artists arrive with a statement – or a splash, as you prefer – and it’s immediately clear that it’s worth paying attention to them because whatever comes next is likely to be interesting. As is the case with Sydney country-pop artist Amy Solylo.Solylo has released one single, ‘He Wants Me (Dead)’ – and also an acoustic version of the song – and its combination of tongue-in-cheek self-awareness and whimsy offers something different and intriguing. The same combination is there when Solylo performs live, as she’s been doing a fair bit lately at Sydney country music institution Jolene’s, and it’s also clear that she is a born entertainer.As Solylo tells me in this new interview, the single is about being ‘your own biggest red flag’ and came about after she was blocked across all platforms by an ex. Solylo found one remaining avenue of communication – WhatsApp – and used it. The response she received was firm and clear … so she went home and wrote the song. Solylo came to songwriting through a childhood love of reading, and to music through early singing lessons and a hot pink guitar. It turned out that while she’s right-handed at everything else, she can only play guitar left-handed and, as leftie guitarists know, it’s not as easy to find instruments! (Although I can attest that she now has a lovely red guitar, as I’ve seen her playing it live.)It was a great pleasure to chat to Solylo and I look forward to hearing what she releases next – after she’s embarked on her next trip to Nashville, and all the adventure that promises.Listen to ‘He Wants Me (Dead)’ on Apple MusicListen to ‘He Wants Me (Dead)’ on SpotifyListen to ‘He Wants Me (Dead)’ on YouTubeFor more Sunburnt Country Music:InstagramFacebook YouTubewebsite Substack Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kaylee Bell is from Aotearoa New Zealand and spent several years living in Australia, which means we can probably claim her … or at least share her! And she is certainly one of Australia’s favourite country music artists as her recent second win as CountryTown's Female Artist of the Year award proved. Her latest album, Cowboy Up, was released last year. Her new single is 'Me For Me', and even though Cowboy Up was released not that long ago, in this new interview Bell says she had more to say, because she’s lived a lot since she wrote that album.‘You've got to live to write,’ she says. ‘Songs might come in the couple of hours you’re in the room, but they’re born and living with you for a long time before they finally come out.’'Me For Me' was written with Tom Jordan and Phoebe Jasper,  who records under the name Navvy, and in the interview Bell talks about how the song came about, as a relaxed writing session with friends who were home over the summer, in which songs started flowing without pressure or agenda. ‘I feel like we've started almost a whole new record by accident,’ she says. The song itself is about knowing your worth, waiting for the right person, and loving that person for who they are in return. There were other songs that emerged from those summer sessions and they are likely to follow ‘Me For Me’.This is a wide-ranging conversation that takes in Bell’s recent Christmas single, the demands of being in the music industry, and how she’s used visualisation in her career (and what it has to do with sport). ‘The music industry humbles you in a way no other industry possibly could,’ she tells me. ‘One day you're on the mountaintop, next day you’re still working out what's going on.’We recorded this interview before Bell headed to Nashville to perform at CMA Fest, which has now happened, but I’ve left in that part of the interview as interviews are watched and listened to often years after the fact, so there will always be something that is out of date!‘Me For Me’ is out now.Listen to ‘Me For Me’ on Apple MusicListen to ‘Me For Me’ on SpotifyListen to ‘Me For Me’ on YouTubeFor more Sunburnt Country Music:InstagramFacebook YouTubewebsite Substack Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Many Australian music fans will know of Wagga Wagga-born Darren Coggan from his hugely popular shows featuring the music of John Denver or Cat Stevens (and he has a great story at that – you’ll have to listen to the interview to find out what it is!). These – along with his work in musical theatre, and as an actor – have kept him busy and touring the country for several years. However, Coggan had his start in country music. He’s a winner of Toyota Star Maker, and a contemporary of Beccy Cole, Adam Harvey and Felicity Urquhart, even touring with those three as the ‘Young Stars of Country’ several years ago, and again for a reunion show in 2019.In recent times Coggan has recorded music with his daughter, Olivia, and he’s now returned to original music with the moving single ‘Always Believe in Love’. As he tells me in this recent interview, the song came to him in a dream. Its message wouldn’t land, though, if Coggan didn’t walk the talk, so to speak. This is a man who loves what he does, is passionate about it, takes nothing for granted and is grateful for every opportunity. He has fully committed himself to music, and to bringing joy to audiences, and that’s what he’s doing this year too with an extensive Australian tour (dates below). It was a great pleasure – and hugely interesting – to talk to Coggan about his life and career thus far. I hope you enjoy listening to or watching this chat, and finding out more about this in-demand Australian entertainer, whom you can also catch on TV (if you’re in New South Wales) on Sydney Weekender. NB: There was the occasional wi-fi glitch in this interview, so the audio is off in some places.SEE DARREN COGGAN ON TOURFriday June 12 – West Gippsland Performing Arts Centre – Gippsland, VICSaturday June 13 - The Wedge – Sale, VIC Friday June 26 – The Jetty Theatre - Coffs Harbour, NSWSaturday June 27 – The Players Theatre - Port Macquarie, NSWThursday July 2 - The Powerhouse – Liverpool, NSW Wednesday July 22 - Ingham Theatre – Ingham, QLDThursday July 23 - Proserpine Entertainment Centre – Proserpine, QLD Saturday July 25 - HOTA - Surfers Paradise, QLDSunday July 26 - Majestic Theatre – Pomona, QLD Friday August 14 - Warners Bay Theatre – Warners Bay, NSW Saturday August 15 - Jetty Theatre - Coffs Harbour, NSWSunday August 16 - Coronation Hall - Coutts Crossing, NSW Saturday October 3 - Redcliffe Entertainment Centre – Redcliffe, QLD Friday October 9 - The J Theatre – Noosa, QLD Saturday October 10 - The Events Centre – Caloundra, QLDFriday October 16 – The Estate – Camden, NSW **Tickets on sale now and available via https://www.darrencoggan.com/Listen to Darren Coggan on Apple MusicListen to Darren Coggan on SpotifyListen to Darren Coggan on YouTubeFor more Sunburnt Country Music:InstagramFacebook YouTubewebsite Substack Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Allan Cameron is a solo artist, songwriter and guitarist who was a founding member of SaltbushSix, Keith Urban’s first backing band. He has been releasing music independently for several years, and his latest single is ‘Worn Out (Australian Made)’, an anthem that is fundamentally about resilience – and worn in rather than worn out, as Cameron says in this new interview.The song grew from a period of genuine questioning. After grappling with the demands of being an independent artist in the streaming era, Cameron found himself asking whether he wanted to keep going. ‘I asked myself, can I keep doing this?,’ he says. ‘Do I want to keep doing this? And the short answer – the long answer – was yes.’The process of getting to that yes became the song. Its central turn of phrase, ‘I’m not worn out, I’m worn in’, highlights the power of a single word to change meaning.The song went through many drafts, filling pages of Cameron’s lyric book, before arriving at its final form, which is also a celebration of Australian identity. Part of reason for that comes from Cameron’s own recent discoveries about his ancestry, learning that his grandmother was of indigenous heritage, adding that thread to a lineage that also includes Scottish and English roots. The first drafts of the song engaged more directly with this personal history before Cameron broadened its scopt to speak to Australians generally. ‘This land is the same, we’re all here to dream, we are Australian made’ is where he landed.Beyond the new single, Cameron has been releasing music that includes last year’s instrumental, ‘Waxing and Waning’; recorded in open G tuning, it found its way onto playlists around the world. ‘Grandfather’s Guitar’ paid tribute to the instrument that first sparked Cameron’s musical life – and his collection of guitars, which now runs to just over forty instruments. This section of the chat is mainly for guitar aficionados, but I do like to throw in the technical questions when I can!Cameron plays regular cover gigs around Brisbane and Queensland, and has another single planned for later in the year.‘Worn Out (Australian Made)’ is out now.Listen to Allan Cameron on Apple MusicListen to Allan Cameron on SpotifyListen to Allan Cameron on YouTubeFor more Sunburnt Country Music:InstagramFacebook YouTubewebsite Substack Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Shanleigh Rose is an award-winning singer and songwriter from the Sunshine Coast hinterland in Queensland who has been releasing music for five years. Her latest single, ‘Like My Mama Loves Tobacco’, is the most personal song she has put out – and, as she tells me in this new interview, the one she almost didn’t.The chorus was written when she was sixteen, in a music room at school, after discovering the songwriting of Melody Moko and Fanny Lumsden. She wrote it, filed it away, and didn't quite know what it was about. A few years later, after a break-up, she understood. ‘What I feel for this person is actually more like an addiction than love,’ she says. That realisation gave her the metaphor at the centre of the song, with the tobacco of the title standing in for the kind of relationship you know is poisoning you but can’t walk away from. ‘You’re poison, but it’s all I’ll ever want’, she sings in this powerful tune that has already won the lyrics-only section of the Tamworth Songwriters Association Awards before the melody was even finalised. It was the response from other songwriters at the awards night convinced that convinced Shanleigh to release the song. ‘Like My Mama Loves Tobacco’ was produced by Michael Muchow who, in a lovely piece of symmetry, is Melody Moko’s producer (and husband), with vocal production by Nyssa Ray, who pushed Rose through four hours of takes to find her most emotionally open performance. ‘You can be sadder,’ Ray told her. ‘You can have more emotion.’Rose has also recently released ‘Down to Your Grave’, a collaboration with Cate Jamieson and Bethany Walsh, written and recorded as a university assignment that the three decided the world needed to hear. More collaborations and more original releases are planned, alongside a growing focus on stagecraft and the live experience. Shanleigh plays regularly across Southeast Queensland. Keep an eye on her socials for details.‘Like My Mama Loves Tobacco’ is out now.NB: At around the 22-minute mark, I had a coughing fit and had to pause the recording, so after that point my voice sounds different. Thanks to Shanleigh for patiently waiting out the coughing! I’ve had a cold and persevered with interviews as I don’t want to cancel on the artists – and thankfully they do most of the talking – but it does mean my voice sounds raspy and sometimes shaky.Listen to ‘Like My Mama Loves Tobacco’ on Apple MusicListen to ‘Like My Mama Loves Tobacco’ on SpotifyListen to ‘Like My Mama Loves Tobacco’ on YouTubeFor more Sunburnt Country Music:InstagramFacebook YouTubewebsite Substack Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beth Lucas is an award-winning country music artist from Queensland who has been releasing music for several years. She has a new single, 'What I Deserved', and it is one of the most personally courageous songs she has written.Lucas grew up on the Sunshine Coast and has been based in the Brisbane area for around two decades, and part of its appeal has long been the possibilities it offers her as a musical artist. Her path to country music was not direct. She came from the emo and alternative scenes, playing in bands, and it was only after having a daughter and stepping back from music that she returned with a new perspective and a clearer sense of what she wanted to write, as she tells me in this new interview. ‘Old bandmates were basically like, your songs are pretty much country, so just make them more country,’ she says. That was six years ago, and she describes the time since as the most successful period of her musical life.‘What I Deserved’ is a song about first love and its aftermath – specifically, about a mistake Lucas made at sixteen, the weight she has carried since, and the long process of forgiving herself for it. She is careful to take responsibility for her own part in the story; ‘I know that I got what I deserved’ is not a line of self-pity but of reckoning – and then, ultimately, of release. The song won the 2026 Geoff Mack Commemorative Award before it was even released, and has become one of the songs in her live set that audiences connect with most.Lucas has twice attended the CMAA Academy of Country Music – the second time on a Keith Urban Scholarship – and has a string of competition placings to her name, including winning the country music section of the Brisbane-based Ekka Talent Search. She is also one third of Three Birds & the Truth, which she formed with Amber Kenny and Jo Caseley following the 2023 Academy. An EP is in the works for the end of the year, with a new single in production in the meantime.‘What I Deserved’ is out now.Listen to Beth Lucas on Apple MusicListen to Beth Lucas on SpotifyListen to Beth Lucas on YouTubeFor more Sunburnt Country Music:InstagramFacebook YouTubewebsite Substack Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nikisha Priest is a country rock artist from the Lake Macquarie area of New South Wales who, at twenty years old, is already drawing on a remarkably deep well of musical training. Her new single is 'Ace of Spades' – and no, it's not a cover.Priest began singing lessons at six, privately with a family friend who within a year concluded she couldn't teach her anymore and referred her to the Conservatorium of Music in Gosford. She studied there from seven to fourteen, classically trained in voice. Through high school she attended a Big Picture Academy, a project-based learning programme that allowed her to structure her studies around music. At twenty, she has already attended the CMAA Academy of Country Music, appeared on Australian Idol – where she sang Pink's ‘Trouble’ a capella outside her mother's hair salon, without notice, for her audition – and released her most fully realised single to date.'Ace of Spades' was sparked by a car park moment. Priest was thinking about the Motörhead song, wondering how other artists had approached the same title, when she noticed a playing card sticker on the car next to her. She took it as a sign, went home and wrote the song. Research into the card’s symbolism gave her the song's backbone – the Ace of Spades as a death card on one side, new beginnings on the other – a theme of transformation, leaving behind what no longer fits, and stepping into something new. ‘The song kind of just wrote itself,’ she says in this new interview, which was recorded while Priest was at a SHE Songwriting Retreat, run by Lyn Bowtell. The single was produced by Simon Johnson at Hillbilly Hut, with whom Priest has worked since a school-age work experience placement, and the video was shot in a single day at Full Throttle Ranch in Buttai near Newcastle by videographer Jeremy Minett of Eyes and Ears Creative.When she’s not making music Priest is looking after her five pets – and I asked her about these, partly because I know so many people have cats and dogs and love a good animal story! And it turns out that Priest’s pets are thematically named – although you’ll have to watch or listen to the interview to find out what the theme is …‘Ace of Spades’ is out now.Listen to ‘Ace of Spades’ on Apple MusicListen to ‘Ace of Spades’ on SpotifyListen to ‘Ace of Spades’ on YouTubeFor more Sunburnt Country Music:InstagramFacebook YouTubewebsite Substack Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The music of Sydney-based singer-songwriter Justine Eltakchi came to my attention because she released a country music single, ‘If I Could’, with Timothy James Bowen. She isn’t a country artist per se – in that it’s not one of the genres she has mostly written in, for artists such as Casey Donovan and Abby Christo. But truly Eltakchi could create songs in pretty much every genre and be great at it, because it becomes clear from the first time you listen to her debut album, Big Dream Baby, that she is an artist with not only exceptional songwriting skills but a voice to match. And, beyond that, the willingness to show us her heart and bring us her stories as a way of fostering connection. There’s a bravery in that, in an artist showing us – rather than telling us – that her ambitions are as big as her talent. Because it is a big ambition – a big dream, of course – to want to connect with others, on any level. There’s no guarantee they’ll accept what you’re offering, or accept it in the spirit in which it’s offered. They may not understand. They may reject you. That risk creates a vulnerability for the artist, and it’s also there in Eltakchi’s songs – in both lyrics and vocal delivery. What’s most there, though, is a love of life in the details and the big themes. The title song has already been released as a single, as has ‘Daughters and Sons’, which Eltakchi recorded with Donovan, ‘Petals’ and ‘Six Weeks of Summer’. There’s a lot more to explore on this album, and you will want to listen to it over and over, for its musical and lyrical richness. In speaking to Eltakchi about it, it became clear that the richness has developed over many years, from a robust musical upbringing, and from not only that open heart but open mindedness. There are many genres on this album because she has chosen the style of music that is best for the song, and given herself the freedom to do that – or, probably more likely, taken it, because being eclectic is not often the path travelled when artists have pressure to sound a certain way. I loved talking to Eltakchi about her background and her work as a songwriter for others and creator of songs for herself. I’m sure you’ll enjoy meeting her too. And if you’re in Sydney she’s launching Big Dream Baby at Lazybones Lounge in Marrickville on 30 April, with special guests appearing in her set. Big Dream Baby is available now. You can find it on Bandcamp. For more Sunburnt Country Music:InstagramFacebook YouTubewebsite Substack Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A fair while ago I separately interviewed first Alex Laska then, months later, Fergus Linacre, the two founding members of Kingswood. At the time I hadn’t seen the band live, but I certainly like what I heard of their recorded music (which includes a Christmas album – I recommend it!). At the Tamworth Country Music Festival in January 2024 I saw them play on the back of a truck in the car park of the Tamworth Hotel. Suffice to say my hair was metaphorically blown back by that gig, and I was hooked on Kingswood live. Since then I’ve seen them play in a variety of venues, and each time it has been one of the best shows ever. The reasons why they’re a great live band were evident in the documentary Claptrap, which was released last year. Some of these will be the same reasons why they’re great recorded too, and they are to do with the longtime creative relationship between Linacre and Laska. But the treat for fans is that Kingswood live and Kingswood recorded are different entities, each of them exceptional. Which means that being a fan of Kingswood is a full-spectrum experience. And I do not pretend to be impartial about this band – I can’t be, and I declare my fan status early on in this interview with Linacre as he was sitting backstage at the Enmore Theatre in Sydney, in between shows with American band Counting Members, with Kingswood band members coming and going behind him (as you’ll see if you watch the video version of the interview).We talk about the band’s latest single, ‘Faith’; their upcoming album, Midnight Mavericks, which is due for release on 22 May; how Linacre and Laska write songs, and also about Peggy, their tour bus, which is well known to fans. At the end we chat about a project that is Linacre’s alone.If you’re new to Kingswood, this interview will give you an insight into why the band is so strong in all aspects, and also what to expect if you see them live or hear them recorded. If you’re a fan, hopefully you learn something new that will make you even more excited for the new album and tour.Listen to Kingswood on Apple MusicListen to Kingswood on SpotifyListen to Kingswood on YouTubeKINGSWOOD – TOUR DATESFriday May 15 - Rosemount Hotel, Perth, WATicketing: https://rosemounthotel.oztix.com.au/outlet/event/fe6b25ca-0747-4d4d-9479-c4bd09dbe874 Saturday May 16 - The Gov, Adelaide, SATicketing: https://tickets.oztix.com.au/outlet/event/785edc31-2119-437d-9e8d-b8696d56d224 Friday May 22 - The Corner Hotel, Melbourne, VICTicketing: https://tickets.cornerhotel.com/outlet/event/2475f2e5-d9a8-41be-a496-4c1af3915095 Saturday May 23 - Savannah Sounds Festival, Port Douglas, QLDTicketing: https://www.savannahsounds.com.au/tickets/savannah-sounds--port-douglas-2026/ Thursday May 28 - Lefty's Music Hall, Brisbane, QLDTicketing: https://tickets.oztix.com.au/outlet/event/2c5efb83-1058-45d6-843c-235e4ef02dcd Friday May 29 - The Factory Theatre, Sydney, NSWTicketing: https://moshtix.com.au/v2/event/kingswood-midnight-mavericks-album-tour-2026/192299 Saturday May 30 - Full Throttle Ranch, Hunter Valley, NSWTicketing: https://www.stickytickets.com.au/H0Y94A Friday June 19 - Tanks Art Centre, Cairns QLDTicketing: https://www.ticketlink.com.au/ticketlinkEvents/popular-music/kingswood Saturday June 20 - Cooktown Discovery Festival, Cooktown QLDTicketing: https://cooktownexpo.com.au/For more Sunburnt Country Music:InstagramFacebook YouTubewebsite Substack Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mackenzie May is an artist from Central Queensland who, at just twenty years old, is already having a landmark year. In January she was a Toyota Star Maker Grand Finalist at the Tamworth Country Music Festival, she performed at CMC Rocks with a full band, and she has just released her debut EP, All the Little Things — a seven-track collection that represents her most substantial statement yet.May grew up absorbing her grandparents' record collection – Slim Dusty, George Jones, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings – and started playing guitar at eleven or twelve. Her first live performance came at thirteen, when her cousin invited her to sing at an open mic night. She sang 'Tennessee Whiskey', loved it, and hasn't really stopped since. By fourteen she was playing pub gigs, her parents in tow. All the Little Things brings together three previously released singles – 'Little Things', 'Old School Love' and 'I'll Take It All' – with four new tracks, including a song about the financial realities of a music career and a deeply personal closing track written for her family following the death of her nan. ‘I wanted something that would just represent me as a person the most,’ she says. The EP was produced by Jared Adlam, with whom May has recorded every song she has released, and who she books up to a year in advance given his busy schedule. 'Be Careful You Fall in Love With', written with Sarah Buckley – a collaborator she met at the Academy of Country Music – was the song she performed at the Star Maker Grand Final.May attended the Academy of Country Music in 2023, an experience she credits with preparing her for the realities of a professional music career, from performing with a band to songwriting. Fellow graduates Mackenzie Lee and Keely Ellen have also gone on to high-profile moments this year, pointing to what was clearly a strong cohort.All the Little Things is an impressive debut EP, showing May’s astuteness as a songwriter and her willingness to go for more: to reach deeper into herself and also be ambitious about her storytelling. It was a pleasure to chat to her in this new interview.  All the Little Things is out now.Listen on Apple MusicListen on SpotifyListen on YouTubeFor more Sunburnt Country Music:InstagramFacebook YouTubewebsite Substack Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.