2014 News

Dateline 28th January 2014

Having been pigeonholed as a “country” artist over the last decade & more, I’ve been intrigued by the ongoing arguments / discussions over commercial radio’s attitude to the genre. Here’s a comment I recently made on an online media article…

Your mission, should you choose to accept it…is to define country music. It’s one of the broadest genres in existence. Is it Slim & old-style Aussie country, equally informed by singing cowboys as bush balladeers? is it Lee Kernaghan & his brand of rockin’ hats ‘n’ utes B & S ball fare? is it Gina Jeffreys & her light country pop? is it Troy Cassar-Daley & his US hard country influenced, yet firmly Australian material? is it Kasey Chambers & her (arguably) Julie Miller inspired take on Americana (not to forget Bill there)? is it the raft of young hopefuls graduating from the Tamworth College of Country Music modelled on whomsoever their favourite US star happens to be? is it the country rockin’ road warriors such as The Remains, Jeremy Edwards, Glenys Rae Virus & co.? is it the quiet achievers, the singer-songwriters from Neil Murray, Shane Howard, Broderick Smith, Kevin Bennett & on to latterly Lachlan Bryan & Melody Pool & many more?, or is it the inner-city hipsters with banjos discovering bluegrass & Guy Clark & Townes van Zandt en route (& with mixed results)?

That’s just the beginning- it’s a big question & polarises people dramatically, but it doesn’t help when radio continues to promote the idea that country isn’t cool, because they haven’t got the first idea of what it is in the first place.