Jacynta’lee is a country-pop artist from Far North Queensland who released her debut single in 2021 and has released several songs since. In our recent interview, to chat about her latest single, ‘That’s Alright’, Jacynta’lee talked about working with in-demand Melbourne producing pair MSquared – Michael Delorenzis and Michael Paynter – on the track.

The song was inspired, says Jacynta’lee, by a personal experience where someone commented on her tomboyish behaviour, leading her to write a song about self-acceptance and the importance of not changing for others. The experience of writing it with MSquared was so positive that while she used to prefer to write solo, Jacynta’lee is now a convert to co-writes.

Growing up in a musical family – her mother is a vocal coach – Jacynta'lee taught herself to play guitar at age 12. Of her early exposure to country music through her parents’ record collection, she says:

‘I ended up just falling in love with it. And I've also ended up falling in love with songwriting because of that. I love the songs where you can paint a picture in your head.’

At age 16 Jacynta’lee attended Camerata, as the Junior Academy of Country Music was then known, on a scholarship after the original recipient, Nathan Lamont, had to decline it!

Of the continuing influence of that Camerata experience on her life and music, Jacynta’lee says, ‘I think just being surrounded by music for … two weeks with people that are aspiring to do what you're doing at such an impressionable age – they're lifelong connections, I think.’

Looking ahead to the rest of the year, Jacynta’lee has plans to release an EP and she also has several big events coming up. With her high-energy country-pop sound and fantastic voice, she is sure to win even more fans at shows and with her new music.

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Tanya Ransom is an alt-country artist from the west coast of Australia, with over 15 years of experience on the Australian touring circuit, two independent albums and an EP. She has a third album, The Significance of Time, due for release sometime soon – date tbc – and from it has the new single ‘Winter Song’.

This interview was recorded in February, as Ransom was planning to release the album earlier in the year, but as is the way of things with releases – and life in general! – plans changed. So you may hear some dates mentioned that are now past, but the conversation is still relevant and will only whet your appetite for the album, which is a truly lovely piece of work.

A big part of the impact of Ransom’s music is her voice, which I loved when I heard her 2017 album The Art of Departing and through the releases since. There is a quality to it that’s hard to explain but which I think has something to do with the places she is prepared to go to, within herself, as an artist.

As Ransom writes about the human condition – in big themes and small details – this conversation delves into some of the reasons why, and we look at some of the songs in detail. We also talk about Ransom’s background as an artist as well as her career, which has included a 2021 EP with the memorable title Breakdown to Breakthrough.

You can preorder The Significance of Time on Bandcamp.

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Amber Kenny is from the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, where she lives on a farm with her family, horses and cherished Maton guitar.

I first saw Kenny perform in Tamworth during the 2024 Country Music Festival, appearing at the album launch for her 3 Birds & the Truth bandmate Jo Caseley (the third Bird is Beth Lucas), and knew she had plans to release music, but nothing appeared for the rest of that year. The reason why is something Kenny raises early in our interview to talk about her new album, Beautiful Scars, which is out now on vinyl, CD and via Bandcamp (the title single – and earlier singles – are available on streaming services now). I asked her what the beautiful scars might be and she offered the answer with vulnerability and complete transparency, and I acknowledge the responsibility in receiving it.

The story that Kenny tells of the album’s creation is one of creative commitment and perseverance and, above all, love of music. She is an artist who is fully immersed in the world around her and documents her experiences in song. We talk about the songs as well as her formation as an artist, including her formative time at the CMAA Academy of Country Music. I’m sure you will find Kenny as interesting as I did, and hope you will then seek out her music.

Amber Kenny plays regularly, especially around the Southern Highlands, and you can see her gig schedule at https://amberkennymusic.com.au

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‘You’ve just got to love what you do and really believe in what you’re doing for yourself, and if you do that, that’s where your fulfilment comes from.’

Sydney-based, Orange-raised country-rock artist James Keith says that at a certain point in our latest interview, and it was clear that it wasn’t just words to him, especially as we talked in detail about the changes he’s made in his life over recent months. Keith is by no means a practitioner of toxic positivity – he’s come to this view of life by working on himself and making changes – and it was great to have the chance to find out how those changes have taken effect.

One way was in his being named a 2025 Toyota Star Maker Grand Finalist, and we talked about the competition. We also spoke about his single, ‘She Don’t, his work with producer Matt Fell as he starts to put together his next album (after releasing Life is Good Today last year), and his upcoming song releases.

In between writing, recording and performing, Keith also runs a business in Sydney, and he was on the premises as we chatted, so it seemed logical to ask him a bit about that too.

We end by talking about Tony Robbins, whose work has had a profound influence on Keith. Robbins is (in)famous for having people walk over hot coals at his seminars. Has James Keith done it? You’ll have to watch/listen to find out …

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Bianca Joulianou is an artist from Sydney who released her first single, ‘Fool’, in 2022. Since then she has been performing live, sharing stages with artists such as Dylan Wright and Shannon Noll. She has a new single, ‘Gambling Man’, which contains a story close to her life and heart.

Joulianou began performing about five years ago, at a small pub in western Sydney, after teaching herself guitar to accompany her singing. Despite not coming from a musical family, their father's love for country music played a role in shaping their musical tastes.

As Joulianou told me in our recent interview, she began writing songs at the age of 16; the loss of her grandfather prompted her to be vulnerable in her songs and she hasn’t resiled from it since. ‘Gambling Man’ is an example of this, as it draws on her partner's past struggles with gambling and is a story of resilience and redemption.

‘I kind of wanted to write something that I could sing to him,’ says Jouliaou, ‘and he would be like, wow, look at what we've done. Look at what we've done together. This was our journey, and you've just written a song about it.’

By day Joulianou is a mental health support worker, and she has found inspiration for her songs in that work. And once she has an idea for a song, it’s all-encompassing.

‘When an idea comes to my head,’ she says, ‘I'm there all day … I can't move. I don't get hungry, I don't get thirsty. I'm just there, just writing.’

Joulianou performs as often as she can in and around Sydney, and you can next find her on 7 June 2025 at the Forever 21 Hoedown Throwdown in Picton, headlined by Missy Lancaster. Tickets available here.

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So here’s the truth about being an amateur music journo with a demanding full-time job: sometimes I just don’t have time to publish things when I should. With all the best will in the world, I don’t have time to make the assets, create the video file, create the audio file, write the accompanying text and do the clips, then publish across several platforms so that I can publish the interview close to recording date.

This is why my interview with Sons of Atticus is coming to you after they’ve released their new single, ‘Be Set Free’ – which is relevant because in this interview they announce that they’ll have a new single. But, hey, maybe that means I’m right on time? Now you don’t have to wait for the single!

In case you don’t know them, Sons of Atticus are two musicians named Matt Joyce and Dylan Wright. According to their Instagram bio they are ‘just a couple buddies trying to make country music’ – and it’s safe to say they are succeeding. They released the album Jacks Motel in 2021, the EP Cedar Creek in 2023, and this year they released the single, ‘Tennessee Tipsy’, and of course they now have the new one.

I last interviewed them as a pair two years ago; I interviewed Wright last year after he won Australian Idol. At the time he told me that Joyce would be joining him on his post-Idol tour as he couldn’t imagine doing it without him. That’s because these two have been making music together for years now and their bond is incredibly solid, as you’ll see in this interview and also hear in their music. There is an ease in their songs which shows – rather than tells – how they work together. Wright’s voice, all warmth and strength, works with Joyce’s guitar, with its vigour and freshness.

The way music is created is always mysterious, in that you could break down a song or album to components and offer them to someone else and a completely different work would emerge. There’s magic to it, both live and recorded. Sons of Atticus clearly had that magic within their duo when I first spoke to them and they have it still. Given all the change that Idol has brought to both of them, that’s harder to achieve than it looks from the outside. My sense as to why is because it always comes back to the music: that’s what brought them together, it’s what they love to do together, and they’re still only gathering steam. So the track ahead will be well worth us all following.

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When Gold Coast country-pop artist Chloe Styler released her debut single, ‘When Your Light Burns’, in 2018, I was so taken with it that I wrote a piece about it. That year Styler was a grand finalist in the 39th Annual Toyota Star Maker competition. She had already attended the Junior and Senior Academy of Country Music, so the trajectory to Star Maker was not surprising – the Academy is a professional development organisation with few peers in Australian music. So the quality of that first single shouldn’t have been a surprise but, still, it was impressive.

What became noticeable as Styler released successive singles ‘Patient Heart’ and ‘Sweden’ was that the first wasn’t a fluke – and also that she was developing an aesthetic for her cover art. This aesthetic evolved as she continued to release singles and her EPs, Side A (2022) and Side B (2023). As did her songwriting: with the release of the single ‘Hometownless’ in 2023 she signified that she was prepared to explore a certain whimsy with language, and the aesthetic went in tandem with that.

Why am I mentioning the aesthetic? Because it’s part of Styler’s artistry, and we have spoken before about her interest in costume (for stage) and clothes (for videos and photos) and how she is consciously developing that aesthetic, often with the help of her sister, Amy, who is her photographer and videographer. In an era where the visual branding of an artist is more important than ever, it is smart of her to pay attention to this and it works because it’s authentic to her.

Styler has been awarded for her music, taking home Breakout Artist of the Year at the 2024 Gold Coast Music Awards, and she is very much focused on developing as a songwriter and performer, spending time in Nashville for both.

So I was interested to have a longer chat with her than usual, because she is intelligent and thoughtful and it was a good chance to delve deeper into her artistry. Therefore this is a ‘deep dive’ interview, the second I’ve done (the first was with Nathan Lamont), and Styler and I also spoke about her latest single, ‘Love in a Bubble’.

I’m fascinated to see where she goes next in her music and her life – the progression has been so strong till now, and she has put everything in place for that to continue.

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I’m fairly sure that Brisbane-based country-rock-blues artist Delilah Rose is incapable of being uninteresting. We have spoken before – around the time of the release of her album Moxie – and she was clearly passionate about not only making art but connecting with others who are doing the same. And, indeed, about creating a community for that – which is what led her to start The Song Café in Brisbane, which is still going strong at The Cave Inn in Woolloongabba each month and features four songwriters in the round.

Delilah grew up on the land in the Western Australian wheat belt and has only recently relocated to the east coast. We started off talking about where the good coffee is in Brisbane, then moved on to discussing the genesis of her latest single, ‘Sophia’, which is an exploration of faith, individuality, and the divine feminine. Her spirituality has now definitely evolved away from the religion she was brought up in, and the song captures how she has developed her own sense of faith.

In some ways this interview documents a quest, and the quest narrative is an archetype, which is fitting, given that it was Delilah’s interest in the divine feminine that led her along a life and creative path that has resulted in this song and the album she is planning to follow it.

Indeed, it documents more than one quest: an artist in search of the divine, and of herself, and of a community. Where Delilah differs to some who seek, she sets out to find and applies herself to the finding. The seeking is not the point, of course – we can all say we seek. Committing to the quest and seeing it through is noble and inspiring, and that’s what I find her to be.

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