Coral Renee is a 19-year-old singer-songwriter from New South Wales who is already a graduate of the CMAA Junior Academy and of the Talent Development Project. She was a Top 5 Finalist in 2TM Discovered 2025 and last year won the open section in the Australian National Busking Championship Heats at The Entrance. She has released several singles and the latest is 'The Devil Wears Cowgirl Boots'. 

One of the things I love about Australian country music is that artists can emerge at any age, and that there are several young artists who are so accomplished and astute, as well as passionate about music. Coral is one of those: deeply musical and also aware of all the elements that go into a modern music career, including how to create an individual identity that is not only recognisable to fans but which can connect with them.

Her single ‘The Devil Wears Cowgirl Boots’ is a progression, as it should be for an emerging artist, and she has committed to the world of the song in the video too. It was great to chat to her about her music and her artistry, and to find out about what’s coming up, including a possible EP release and some festival appearances.

This may well be your first encounter with Coral Renee, so I hope you enjoy getting to know her as much as I did.

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The last time I spoke to Eloise Rayner – around the time she released the song ‘Can You Still Feel Me Loving You’ – she was living in Sydney. Now she has a new song and a new home state: Queensland, where she has moved for her work as a speech pathologist. 

Her new single is ‘There Goes My Heart’ and it is like a gentle counterpart to ‘Can You Still Feel Me Loving You’, with whimsy soaked through it. Rayner is a dedicated songwriter, participating in a weekly Zoom writing session. In this interview she says of her writing: 

‘I do use it like a journal a lot of the time to just write out those feelings. But, you know, I also sometimes don't write from my own experience and I write from a concept …I guess my lyrics is like where my heart is with songwriting. They capture emotions that are maybe a bit harder to talk about, or emotions that you haven't realised you felt until you've heard that song.’

Matters of the heart have been a theme of not only these two solo singles but her very first single, which was the light-hearted ‘Fallin’ for a Cowboy’, recorded with good friend Zara Lindeman. The songs are just part of her creative output, though, as we discuss – although music is her priority. 

Rayner has embraced life in the rural community where she now lives, saying it’s provided opportunities for her music career, including performing at events and connecting with other musicians. Although there may be something that brings her south again: her producer, Simon Johnson at Hillbilly Hut, is located much closer to Sydney! Hopefully there are some tunes banked, waiting for release, to add to her impressive singles released to date.

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Ryan Mead is a singer, songwriter, guitarist, and former marching band member from the Sutherland Shire in Sydney. He released his debut single, ‘Tangled Up in Wranglers’, last year and was playing a lot in his home town. 

Then he moved to Boston, where he attends Berklee College of Music, and that has led to him playing festivals in the US, and playing a lot in general. Live music is Mead’s natural habitat, and he is great at it – so happily he is now back in Australia for a few weeks and playing a tonne of shows, several of which are at Jolene’s in Sydney’s CBD, where he was a regular before he went overseas. He’ll also be heading to Queensland for a handful of dates.

It was great to have a chat to Mead about what his first year at Berklee has been like, and about those US festival appearances, as well as his plans for his home shows. He is a highly entertaining live performer and will be performing in various permutations while he’s here: solo, in a duo and with his band (which features his dad on drums). Each show is evidence of Mead’s joy in playing live as well as his determination to put on a great show for the audience – so I’m planning to see him play more than once while he’s back!

To see his full run of dates, go to https://ryanmeadmusic.com/shows

Listen to ‘Tangled Up in Wranglers’ on Apple Music

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When I interview an artist for the first time I have no idea how it will go. I do my research, I prepare my questions, and then I hope for the best. Primarily I hope that they will have a good experience so, by extension, the listener or viewer does, and maybe that person will then want to seek out the artist’s music or go and see them play live*. Once the interview starts, I never follow my questions to the letter; I follow the conversation instead. And one of the most interesting conversations I’ve ever had was with Taylor Sheridan.

Sheridan has already had a rich and varied life as a musician which includes releasing his first album, Troubadour, last year, and it continues with the release of his new single, ‘Stories’. He’s also been on tour with Jimmy Barnes, and that’s after spending five years as a member of the band Taxiride. So his musical life alone would have been interesting but there was so much more to talk about.

My opening question about his upbringing in rural Victoria led very quickly to insights into how he formed and what interests him as an artist. When he was a child his father was seriously ill, and instead of that sinking the family it led to the pursuit of a dream, and in that early example – of watching his father determine to follow the road that might have been otherwise not taken – we can see how Sheridan might have come to commit himself to the never-always-smooth creative life. His single, ‘Stories’, gives us a good sense of that life and hopefully there will be more songs soon.

This chat went for longer than I expected, and could have gone for longer still except it was nighttime and Sheridan has a young child and I figured he probably had things to do, like sleep! Hopefully there will be the chance to talk to him again soon.

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When Sara Storer released her single ‘Under Darwin Stars’ last year it was lyrically within the pantheon of her work – wonderful details that created a world and a story told from the heart – and musically moved things along, as did its successor, ‘Layers’.

I spoke with Storer for both releases and in the ‘Layers’ interview she mentioned that some people thought she didn’t ‘want it’ enough – didn’t want a music career as much as others did – because she had taken time to raise her four boys and, well, live life. That subject emerges in her song ‘Sing Her Heart Out’ from new album Worth Your Love, and in it Storer reaches straight out of the song and into your heart – as she always does, and as she does with each song on this album that is about the colour and darkness and joy of being alive. 

There is no other artist in Australian music – in any country’s music – like Sara Storer, and while that can be said of other artists, there’s a certain magic to her songs which makes her special. Some of the clues to that are in her upbringing, which we speak about in this new interview. Mostly it’s just her and that creative flow that is so much a part of her life that she’s now an exhibiting painter. She is curious and thoughtful and always learning, always trying new things as an artist. That makes for a great experience for a listener – and for an interviewer, because there’s never a dull moment!

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While they’re not currently releasing new music, McAlister Kemp remain one of the most popular acts in Australian country music, renowned for their blend of high-energy country rock with great vocals from both Troy Kemp and Drew McAlister, and songs that touch on a range of subjects that people can relate to, meaning they take those songs into their own lives. 

So fans are abuzz with the news that the pair are to play a show on 22 January at the 2026 Tamworth Country Music Festival at one of the festival’s favourite venues, Blazes at West Tamworth Leagues Club (full details below). The show is called Night on Fire, after one of their songs, and it promises to be just that. 

Kemp now lives in Nashville, and when we spoke recently he filled me in on the story of how he came to move there – during the pandemic, no less – and how it’s going for him. And the interview came during what might be the last quiet time in Kemp’s life, because his wife is due to give birth to their first child any day! Suffice to say he is beyond excited about the arrival of his daughter, who will be accompanying Dad to Tamworth in January.

It's been a while since I’ve had the chance to interview Kemp and he was, as ever, great to talk to. And I may or may not tried to cajole him into recording more duets with female singers, an artform I believe he excels at (for reasons I state). Of course, duets with McAlister are baked into the McAlister Kemp sound, and thankfully there will be plenty of those in January. 

Tickets are on sale now for what promises to be an absolute festival must-see and a night on fire to remember!

McAlister Kemp | Night on Fire

Thursday, 22 January 2026, 8.30 p.m.

Blazes Showroom, West Tamworth Leagues Club

Tickets available from Wests: https://wtlc.com.au/event/mcalister-kemp/

Cost: $50 Adult, $30 Child

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Every now and again - when I have time - I like to put together an episode with new tracks I'd like to bring to your attention, and embed those songs in this podcast episode. So I hope you enjoy listening to the following tracks:

Roo Arcus – ‘Lonesome for the Lone Star State’

Loren Ryan – ‘BOUNTY’

Jay Santilli – ‘Rewind’

The Kunins – ‘One Way Flight’

Nathan May – ‘Darwin Son’

Brooke Schubert – ‘What Next’

The Pleasures – ‘Was it Something I Said?’

Lyn Bowtell ft Kate Ballantyne and Karen O'Shea – ‘I Don’t Wanna Say’

Nathan Lamont – ‘What Comes After’  

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Sweet Talk are a six-piece band from Melbourne who combine passion for their craft with a phenomenal work ethic, mixed with camaraderie and curiosity, to create songs that aren’t definably one genre but which could be described, fundamentally, as highly entertaining. Their debut album, Switch On, is a vibe – a cool, entrancing vibe that draws listeners in and keeps them there. 

Lead guitarist Soren Walker and fellow guitarist David Turner are the co-founders, co-songwriters and heart of the band, and I’ve interviewed them together before, so it was great to have the chance to talk to them as a duo again to find out more behind this collection of songs, several of which have been released as singles. 

There is a lot more to discover on the album, though, with several songs addressing the vagaries of life as a musician – and, more broadly, what it means to decide to commit oneself to a creative path. 

Sweet Talk took their time creating this album because, as they say in the interview, it’s their first record and they didn’t want to rush it – they were making it for themselves. They worked with producer Robert Ellis, and there’s a great story about how that came about – you’ll have to watch/listen to the interview to find out what it is!

Switch On is an embodiment of the high standards the members of Sweet Talk hold themselves to, and which have taken them to festival stages and on tour, most recently supporting Red Clay Strays. They are certainly building momentum, a welcome consequence of the work and dedication and talent that has gone into their music.

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Amber Lawrence is one of the busiest Australian country music artists working today and the reason why could be summed up simply: she’s excellent at what she does. That would really simplify things, though, because the ‘excellent’ and ‘what she does’ parts have history and work and application and talent behind them.

Since the start of her career, over twenty years ago, Lawrence has been a notable songwriter, combining story detail and emotion to create songs that resonate with all sorts of people. Her latest single is ‘Comeback Queens’, which was written with Melanie Dyer, and the detail of it is what makes the fun of it so effective – and fun is the dominant emotion in this song, which is one of the things we discuss in this new interview.

These days Lawrence is also a touring artist with an extensive schedule that has taken her around the country for the past year or so, playing towns and cities and all sorts of venues. Just as her songs appeal to people of all ages, so do her shows – and that’s not even including her children’s shows, which contain songs from her Kid’s Gone Country albums. 

One of the biggest live commitments she has coming up is as the host of this year’s Deni Ute Muster, which is taking place in Deniliquin, NSW, from 3 to 4 October. Details at https://www.deniutemuster.com.au. We also have a chat about what that involves, and also about past Denis. 

Before that there’s a range of shows to play and new music to plan, working with her longtime producer Stuart Stuart. Lawrence’s previous album, Living for the Highlights, was released in 2022, so fans – including this one – will be keen for more new music. Lawrence isn’t making a comeback, because she’s never been away, but ‘Comeback Queens’ is a fitting way to lead us towards the music to come. And it was, as ever, great to catch up with her ahead of a big second half of the year. 

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Where do you start with an artist like Jenny Mitchell? That is, how does one start writing about her? If I were to listen to all the tips and tricks for SEO and engagement and whatnot, I’d run this piece through AI and ask it to incorporate keywords. For a little while I tried to make this Sunburnt Country Music content SEO-friendly because that’s what a person is supposed to do these days, but it took longer than writing it the old-fashioned way and it wasn’t fun to do and it had no heart and what I’m really in the business of here – what the artists I cover are in the business of too – is heart. And soul. And stories. And magic. 

Magic is where we should start with Jenny Mitchell. The Aotearoa New Zealand-born and raised country-folk artist has produced three albums of it – The Old Oak, Wildfires and Tug of War – and now adds a fourth, Forest House, that was named after the place where it was created, and that’s a story she tells me in this interview in which we also talk about her lengthy Australian tour with Kasey Chambers; about her musical father and sisters; about creating a song for her mother that appears on the album. About Mitchell being the den mother to her band as they assembled in the forest house. Or, as I see it, Mitchell creating the circumstances for this glorious album to arise. 

Magic is not so much baked into Forest House as it is part of Mitchell’s fabric. Her voice – that voice! – comes from a place beyond this planet and her songs are right there to meet it. Anyone who has seen her perform live knows that she is an extraordinary artist who is both ethereal and grounded. That’s what comes across on Forest House too – there’s the growly, gutsy part of her and the part that floats above and around us all. 

Magic is what AI can’t make. This piece of writing may not be magic – it’s not actually designed to be – but AI didn’t make it because I couldn’t possibly tell you what I want to tell you about Jenny Mitchell if I used AI for it. AI certainly can’t make her music. It can’t be her live on stage. If you need an anti-AI argument just go to her upcoming shows and you’ll see it there onstage. Yes, that’s a little bit of promotion for those shows. I can do that because I’m in charge of this piece of writing, and this platform, and I’ve interviewed Mitchell again – we’ve had a few chats now – because you should know about her if you don’t already, and you should really go and see her live. Right after you’ve listened to Forest House on repeat. Because magic is invisible and intangible yet it makes life so much better, and she has it.

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