PODCAST · music
Sunburnt Country Music
by Sophie Hamley
For over a decade Sophie Hamley has been interviewing Australian country music artists for her website, Sunburnt Country Music. Now new interviews will be made available in this podcast. Listen to Golden Guitar winners such as Amber Lawrence and Luke O'Shea, and many others, talk about their songs and songwriting, about performance and creativity and so much more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
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Fanny Lumsden on embracing Traditions and shaping her future
Short version Multiple award-winning country music artist/icon Fanny Lumsden talks about her fifth album, Traditions, which is being released on 30 October 2026 on her own label, Red Dirt Road Records. She is also embarking on a tour. Long version ‘We were told to have it all, so now we want to...
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Faith Williams on her exceptional debut album, Home Truths
Short version: Home Truths is the outstanding new album from Central Coast NSW country music artist Faith Williams, who talks about the songs and the recording process in this new interview. Long version: Central Coast NSW artist Faith Williams announced herself last year with her debut EP, Queen...
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Duncan Toombs on his northern adventures and new releases
Short version: A candid conversation with multiple Golden Guitar winner and fan favourite Duncan Toombs about his extensive Canada tour earlier this year and three new singles released from forthcoming album Roller Coaster. Long version: While Duncan Toombs has a full professional life in...
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The ‘Fine Times’ of bluegrass dynamos The High Street Drifters
Short version Melbourne bluegrass duo Justin Vilchez and Daniel Watkins of The High Street Drifters talk about their new song ‘Fine Times’, inspired by the Holden Commodore that takes them all over the land to shows and festivals, with a few hiccups along the way. Long version The High Street...
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Chloe Marks on blazing new album Bright Lights Late Nights
Short version: After a chat about Star Wars inspired by the T-shirt Brisbane multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter Chloe Marks wears for our interview, we talk about the tight bond of her band, The Mayhem, and their debut album, Bright Lights Late Nights. Long version: This interview with...
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Brad Christmas from Copperline on new album Sleepwalking
Short version: Bradley Christmas, frontman and songwriter of alt-country four-piece Copperline, talks about the band’s third album, Sleepwalking, which is partly a commentary on the role and importance of art for the artist and for the audience. Long version: This is not the first time Bradley...
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Sarah from The Stumblers on making music and embracing joy
Short version: This is an interview with Sarah Sands from Perth six-piece The Stumblers. Watch/listen especially if you want to feel inspired to live a full creative life and find opportunities for joy. The band’s latest single is ‘Rhyolite’. Long version: The Stumblers are a six-piece band from...
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Kylie Jane on ‘Seasons Changing’ in life and music
Kylie Jane has been working as a professional musician for several years – indeed, she had a short stint doing something else (as she reveals in this new interview) but it was clear she was meant to be a singer, and ever since then she’s had a busy roster of gigs and functions. She started…
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Tom Mac on what it takes to be ‘Brave’
The first time Tom Mac was a guest on the Sunburnt Country Music podcast, we had a long chat – so long that it grew gradually darker in his car (he’d pulled over in order to do the interview) to the point where he was barely visible! This time around he was indoors, with a light, and we had…
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Tameka steps to the front of the stage with debut single ‘Like This Before’
If you’ve been to see an Australian country music artist play at any time in the past few years, the chances are good that you’ve seen Tameka playing in the band. A highly accomplished and in-demand guitarist, she has performed alongside Ashleigh Dallas, Adam Harvey, Andrew Swift, Catherine…
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Trent Richardson on moving new single ‘Promise You Now’
When Central Queensland contemporary country artist Trent Richardson appeared in Australian Idol two and a half years ago, not only had he never performed for an audience before – he thought he was a long way from being a father, which is something he very much wanted. His life changed fairly...
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The Wolfe Brothers on new single ‘Wannabe’ and upcoming album
Since they first emerged on the Australian country music scene seven albums and fifteen Golden Guitars ago, Tasmanian country-rock outfit The Wolfe Brothers have won fans and admiration with their hard-work ethic backed up by impressive live performances, professionalism and songs that take in…
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Lucy Beveridge on being A Million Different Things
There are pathways for Australian country music artists of all ages to develop their talents and skills, and that includes those who are young enough to still be in school. The CMAA Junior Academy of Country Music is for artists under 18 years of age – and NSW Central Coast singer-songwriter Lucy...
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Saralyn on the Goldline that pulls her through
NB: Saralyn’s sound was softer on the recording than it sounded when we spoke, so there are subtitles on this full-length interview. If you'd rather watch this with subtitles, you can find the full interview on YouTube. From the time she started releasing songs in 2023, it was clear Saralyn was…
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Sue Ray on her lifetime of music and her new single ‘Before the Rain’
[Mild language warning] In this new interview, Toowoomba-raised country-blues artist Sue Ray tells me that, ‘like a bad country song’, she moved back to the Queensland city to have her children. But it’s also where she formed as an artist, as a member of the Toowoomba Country Music Club along…
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Jen Mize on her sensational new album TILT with The Rough N’ Tumble
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...
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Chris Cobb on growing up with music and releasing his rich first album
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...
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Wade Forster on impressive new album The Aftermath and tour plans
‘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...
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Brooke McClymont & Adam Eckersley return with dynamite third album, Souls on Show
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.…
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Andrew Swift on his new bluegrass direction and upcoming album
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...
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From busking on Peel Street to New Zealand Gold Guitars – Zac Weeks’s big year
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...
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Madeline Leman on the long journey to her latest album Ripen on the Vine
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…
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Georgia Scarlett and Joel Spence – two solo artists with one very good idea
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...
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Jessie Robins on her debut single, ‘I Should’ve Known Better’
Jessie Robins grew up in Katherine in the Northern Territory as one of a set of triplets and the daughter of a helicopter mustering pilot, and – as she tells me in this new interview – she has been singing since she was a small child. Creativity also runs in the family as her sisters are also...
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Nashdale on their new music that was ten years in the making
Nashdale are a Central Coast country duo – Kerryn Daniel on lead vocals and Brent Murphy on guitars and vocals – who have been playing together for over a decade and releasing original music since 2024. Their third single, ‘Boots Back On’, is out now, and an EP is in the works for the Tamworth...
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Hayden Phillis on new single ‘Stick Poke Tattoos’ and his rich creative life
Art can emerge at any age, and that’s just as true of younger artists as those who find their creative voices later on. Sydney singer-songwriter Hayden Phillis is not yet twenty years old and has spent his teen years developing his skills as a musician, singer and songwriter, attending the CMAA...
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Olive Mae on singing country songs and choosing freedom
The first time I interviewed country-folk artist Olive Mae she was in a caravan she shared with her husband and children, and they were travelling around Australia, embracing freedom – a concept that is at the core of Olive’s latest single, ‘Country Songs’. Now settled in the south-west of…
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Ella Powell hates her clothes and loves the songs she’s making
Central Coast NSW country-pop artist Ella Powell has been evolving her sound and storytelling over her last few singles, and her latest, ‘Hate My Clothes’, has the most intriguing title yet. As Powell tells me in this new interview, the song began as a feeling rather than a concept. She had a…
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Cookie from Rusty Pickups on their new album and unique band dynamic
The last time I interviewed Michael Cook – known as Cookie – from the Darling Downs (Queensland) alt-country and bluegrass band Rusty Pickups, there was a donkey outside the studio at Possum Creek, where the band recorded. Naturally, when we spoke again recently about the band’s new album, I…
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Melanie Dyer on ‘If Only She Knew’ and dreams coming true
At the start of this interview I say I’m a Melanie Dyer fan, and that’s because she writes songs that can encompass a whole life, as in her recent single, ‘Golden Girl’, or cut right to the heart of something in a devastating way, as in ‘What You Didn’t Say’, from her 2022 album Between You & Me,...
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Brooke Seabrook on being a wordsmith and new single ‘Took My Town Away’
Brooke Seabrook is a balladeer from Queensland who recently won the Barry Thornton Young Award, which supports Australian bush and heritage artists. Her latest single is ‘Took My Town Away’, produced by Lindsay Waddington. Seabrook describes herself not as a songwriter but as a wordsmith – and…
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Kesha Nevé is … Better This Way
Although Snowy Mountains-raised Kesha Nevé was the winner of this year’s Australian Idol, I did not know what to expect when I interviewed her because … I didn’t see any of this year’s season! I caught up on the musical side of things by watching clips and research revealed that she had grown up…
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Ally Paterson on her Gold Rush single, ‘Dig’, and life on the land
The latest single from Ally Paterson, a singer-songwriter from the Ballarat area in Victoria, went on, is called ‘Dig’ and it was born at Sovereign Hill, Ballarat’s living museum of the Gold Rush era. As Paterson tells me in this interview, the rhythmic banging of an old battering ram sent her...
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Jean Elliot on her epic EP Butcher, Lover, Runner
There’s never a guarantee of what will emerge during an interview – that’s partly why it’s so interesting to be able to talk to all sorts of artists. And even if I’ve interviewed an artist before, there’s always something new to discover. In the case of Jean Elliot, a multi-genre artist from the...
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Vixens of Fall on ‘Midnight Cowgirls’ and the power of three
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...
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Paper Daisies on their debut single and their friendship forged in music
Paper Daisies are a duo from the Gold Coast who have released one single, ‘Heartbreakin’ Cowboy’, and as soon as I heard it I thought, These two are not just starting out. The vocals are glorious and there was this energy running through the song that made it sound like the artists, Britt Grey…
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William Alexander on his new album, Along the Boundary Line
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…
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Dingo on the changing seasons of his musical life
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...
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Amber Lawrence is the boss of her own wild frontier
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...
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Mem Davis on why ‘It’s All Just Love’
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...
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Amy Solylo on being your own biggest red flag
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...
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Jake Whittaker on new EP In My Blood
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…
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Kaylee Bell on new songs and big plans
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...
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Darren Gillis is having a ‘Hell of a Time’
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…
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Darren Coggan on always believing in love – and music
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…
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Cassie Leopold on Darlinghurst’s new chapter and single ‘Pour Me Another One’
Sometimes we choose to change our circumstances and sometimes they get changed on us, and how we respond to those changes reveals who we are and also shows us the way forward. For Cassie Leopold founding member of Darlinghurst, there’s been a lot of change in recent times: the band went from…
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Allan Cameron on being worn in and ‘Worn Out’
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…
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Trent Richardson on giving things a crack in life and music
Trent Richardson hails from Central Queensland, where he grew up on a property running camel rides, racing camels, ostriches, goats and sheep. He picked up a guitar three years ago, taught himself to play, and is now releasing his seventh single. In between, he made the semi-finals of Australian...
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Shanleigh Rose on tackling scary subjects in song
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…
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Jayne Denham: raised to a higher key
Jayne Denham’s two most recent albums, Wanted and Moonshine, both reached number one on the ARIA country chart. She is one of Australia's most dynamic live performers and most beloved country rock artists. Her new single is ‘Hillbilly Halo’, and it is the beginning of something considerably…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
For over a decade Sophie Hamley has been interviewing Australian country music artists for her website, Sunburnt Country Music. Now new interviews will be made available in this podcast. Listen to Golden Guitar winners such as Amber Lawrence and Luke O'Shea, and many others, talk about their songs and songwriting, about performance and creativity and so much more.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
HOSTED BY
Sophie Hamley
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Sunburnt Country Music have?
Sunburnt Country Music currently has 460 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Sunburnt Country Music about?
For over a decade Sophie Hamley has been interviewing Australian country music artists for her website, Sunburnt Country Music. Now new interviews will be made available in this podcast. Listen to Golden Guitar winners such as Amber Lawrence and Luke O'Shea, and many others, talk about their songs...
How often does Sunburnt Country Music release new episodes?
Sunburnt Country Music publishes regularly with 460 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Sunburnt Country Music?
You can listen to Sunburnt Country Music on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Sunburnt Country Music?
Sunburnt Country Music is created and hosted by Sophie Hamley.
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