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  • William Alexander on his new album, Along the Boundary Line

    William Alexander on his new album, Along the Boundary Line
    2026/06/24
    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.
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    30 分
  • Dingo on the changing seasons of his musical life

    Dingo on the changing seasons of his musical life
    2026/06/23
    Towards the end of my first ever interview with Brandon Dodd, who records under the name Dingo (he’s released music under both, including the 2020 album What a Way to Die and Dingo and the Rising River in 2024), I realised that I’d seen him play a solo set right before the pandemic closed the nation, and world, down. Because the pandemic changed the shape of time – or so it seemed – and somewhat made life into a washing machine, I completely forgot about that set until he mentioned playing support for Patty Griffin. For it was at a Griffin show at Angel Place in Sydney that I saw him play, and thought he was terrific, and also wondered how long we might still be able to go to live shows. The answer, of course, came quickly after, and for two years there would be very little live music.Dingo was not idle during that time, nor has he been since, whether making his own music or helping others make theirs. Recently his name has been coming up more and more frequently as a producer, of the exceptional emerging artist Faith Williams and the beloved star Beccy Cole, amongst others; he works out of Rabbit Hole Recording Studio on the Central Coast of New South Wales, which he runs with his partner, Kasey Chambers.Chambers features in a great story Dingo tells in this interview, about learning to sing harmonies, when I asked him about how he’d developed his singing voice. He has plenty of very interesting things to say as we talk about his new single, ‘Autumn’, which is taken from his upcoming album Nightwire. I actually didn’t get to ask many of the questions I’d prepared because the conversation went in other directions, and when I’m interviewing I’d much rather follow the conversation than stick to a schedule. To the single, though, as it’s a lovely one: ‘Autumn’ is a love song built around the imagery of the season – leaves falling, and change as something to lean into rather than resist – and at its centre is the idea that you can fall in love again and again with the same person if you stay open to growth. The song (and forthcoming album) was produced not by Dingo but by the in-demand Jordan Power. ‘The best thing you can do is put the other hats down and just be the best artist that you can be,’ says Dingo when I ask why he handed over the role to someone else. Of the forthcoming album, Nightwire, Dingo says it’s ‘me being in love with songs – being in love with music, being just so wrapped up in it again and loving it for what it is.’ Indeed, this whole conversation demonstrated to me that he’s a man who truly loves being immersed in music, and who remains intrigued by it and by what’s possible with it. Suffice to say the release of that album can’t come soon enough.Dingo is currently on tour with the great Adam Harvey, then he’ll join the Ian Moss and Troy Cassar-Daley double header (dates below). In the midst of that he’ll be at the Deniliquin Ute Muster (details also below). 26th June – Bligh Park Hotel – South Windsor, NSW # 27th June – The Oaks Hotel – Albion Park Rail, NSW # 28th June – The Royal Hotel – Queanbeyan, NSW # Friday 28th August – Gympie Music Muster – Gympie, QLD 15th October - Events Centre Kings Theatre, Caloundra QLD * 16th October - Twin Towns - Tweed Heads, NSW * 17th October - Saraton Theatre – Grafton, NSW * 30th October - Commercial Club – Albury, NSW * 31st October - Civic Theatre - Wagga Wagga, NSW * 6th November - Anita’s Theatre – Thirroul, NSW * 7th November - Blue Mountains Theatre & Community Centre – Springwood, NSW * 12th November - The Art House – Wyong, NSW * 13th November – Glasshouse - Port Macquarie, NSW * # With Adam Harvey / * With Ian Moss & Troy Cassar-Daley **Tickets on sale now and available via https://www.dingomusicofficial.com/#tour Dingo will also be performing at this year’s Deni Ute Muster, held on Friday 2nd and Saturday 3rd October 2026. Tickets are on sale now and available via deniutemuster.com.au.Listen to Dingo on Apple MusicListen to Dingo on SpotifyListen to Dingo on YouTubeFor more Sunburnt Country Music:InstagramFacebook YouTubewebsite Substack Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    39 分
  • Amber Lawrence is the boss of her own wild frontier

    Amber Lawrence is the boss of her own wild frontier
    2026/06/20

    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.


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    25 分
  • Mem Davis on why ‘It’s All Just Love’

    Mem Davis on why ‘It’s All Just Love’
    2026/06/16

    Mem Davis is a singer, songwriter and – as I found out during this interview – a book editor from the south coast of New South Wales, although she’s currently not there, because she and partner Neil have been travelling Australia in a caravan since September last year, performing as the Mem Davis Duo along the way, with their elderly Boston terrier in tow.


    The musical life was not one Davis thought she would be leading. As she tells me, she spent years believing she couldn’t sing, having been told so by people close to her. It wasn’t until she was in her twenties that she booked a singing lesson and discovered that, as she says, ‘[e]verything I believed about myself was essentially thrown out the window’.


    She has been writing and performing ever since, though the happier songs, she notes, only arrived in her late thirties.


    ‘I realised music didn’t have to be therapy,’ she says.


    Davis’s latest single, ‘It’s All Just Love’, was produced by Liam Kennedy-Clark, a multi-instrumentalist and, as half of Wicker Suite, a Golden Guitar winner. The song uses bees as a central metaphor for community and the balance between individual responsibility and collective support.


    Davis attended the CMAA Academy of Country Music and writes regularly at the DAG songwriting retreat, where she has made connections she credits as among the most valuable of her career, a co-write with Luke O'Shea being a particular highlight. A second single, recorded with Kennedy-Clark, is due later in the year, with an album the eventual goal.


    At the time of recording the interview, Davis and Neil were based in Tamworth, preparing to head to the Northern Rivers. There are shows coming up, including one for the winter solstice in Uralla. Details at memdavis.com.


    Listen to ‘It’s All Just Love’ on Apple Music


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    26 分
  • Amy Solylo on being your own biggest red flag

    Amy Solylo on being your own biggest red flag
    2026/06/15

    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 Music


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    26 分
  • Jake Whittaker on new EP In My Blood

    Jake Whittaker on new EP In My Blood
    2026/06/14

    Jake Whittaker is a Queensland country rock artist who has been releasing music since 2023, appeared on Australian Idol last year, and has now released his debut EP, In My Blood – five tracks of upbeat, good-time country that in this new interview he describes as a deliberate antidote to sad music.


    ‘People work really hard Monday to Friday and they don't want to go out Friday night and listen to sad, dreary music,’ he says. ‘That’s why I write and release stuff that suits that.’


    The EP was produced by Jared Adlam, one of the most in-demand producers in Australian country music and, in Whittaker’s case, also a close friend since they were seventeen. The songs were road-tested in live shows before being locked in, with any track that didn't land in front of a crowd not making the cut.


    'If it’s a good chorus and verse, you'll remember it straight away,’ he says. ‘If you remember it, it’s worth remembering – and it’ll make a good song.’


    The lead single, ‘Hooked on Her’, was actually the first song written for the project, back in 2023, and sat waiting for the right moment for two years. ‘In My Blood’ was co-written with country star James Johnston on the back verandah at Adam Eckersley's place and completed in about an hour and a half. 'Boots On' emerged from a Sydney writing trip with Sarah Buckley of The Buckleys. ‘Guy with a Boat’ – a song about a man trying to convince himself and his partner that purchasing a boat was entirely necessary – was written with Brooke McClymont and Adam Eckersley at their property in a shed, over a couple of beers.


    Last year Whittaker appeared on Australian Idol, which brought its own particular challenges. While Whittaker is an experienced live performer, comfortable on stage, the Idol format required a different set of instincts. And there’s quite a story about how his audition song ended up being ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ …


    Since Idol Whittaker has been focused on building momentum with live shows and new recordings. In this interview we talk about his support slot with The Wolfe Brothers (those shows are now past – unfortunately I wasn’t able to work fast enough to post this interview before they took place), plus Horsham Regfest, Townsville Country Fest and the Gympie Muster.

    Listen to In My Blood on Apple Music


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    23 分
  • Kaylee Bell on new songs and big plans

    Kaylee Bell on new songs and big plans
    2026/06/14

    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 Music


    Listen to ‘Me For Me’ on Spotify


    Listen to ‘Me For Me’ on YouTube

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    22 分
  • Darren Gillis is having a ‘Hell of a Time’

    Darren Gillis is having a ‘Hell of a Time’
    2026/06/13

    There’s a very healthy country-music scene in Western Australia, and not just in and around Perth. I’ve interviewed artists from as far north as Broome and as far south as Margaret River and several spots in between.


    Darren Gillis is a country rock artist from Western Australia's Wheat Belt, and I hadn’t interviewed him before we had this chat about his new single, ‘Hell of a Time’. The interview was recorded a few weeks before the single’s release, and I had a cold at the time (hence my voice sounding quite scratchy), but the conversation was invigorating enough to help me forget all about that, because Gillis is so clearly passionate about music and the important role it’s played in his life and his wellbeing, as he talks about.


    Gillis has honed his skills as a performer and storyteller by doing a lot of live performance. In 2024 he Gillis took a gap year from work, loaded his guitar into a caravan and set off, first through his local area, then north to Shark Bay and east to Tamworth in New South Wales for his first ever festival, and eventually as far as Noosa Heads in Queensland. Four and a half months on the road, swapping live music for accommodation and playing pub gigs to fund the next leg of the journey.


    ‘I said yes to everything,’ he says.


    The caravan park crowds turned out to be his most important audiences – people pulling their chairs in close, actually listening, giving him real feedback on his original songs. This gave him confidence to keep writing songs, as he’d been doing since 2020, when a relationship breakdown left him isolated in a small town and he turned to music to work through it.


    Some of those songs have since been released. 'Cuss the Black Dog', which drew on both his personal experience and the losses of colleagues in his frontline work, became a finalist in the Western Australian Music Song of the Year award, and prompted lengthy, candid conversations with audience members, including veterans, domestic violence survivors, a sixteen-year-old who drew him a portrait after the show.


    His latest single, 'Hell of a Time', is a song about choosing to let go of whatever the week has thrown at you and be present with the people around you. It will be one of ten tracks on his debut album Rise and Fall, due in August. Gillis has several shows coming up include the Mandurah Country Music Festival in October alongside Kaylee Bell, the Wolfe Brothers and Max Jackson, plus the Boddington Rodeo in November.


    ‘Hell of a Time’ is out now.


    Listen to ‘Hell of a Time’ on Apple Music


    Listen to ‘Hell of a Time’ on Spotify


    Listen to ‘Hell of a Time’ on YouTube

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    23 分