Month: October 2023

Rising Canadian Country artist and multiple CMA Ontario Award nominee Karli June releases her upbeat new single “Feel Like Home” featuring Ryan Langdon.

Produced by Gavin Slate (Tim Hicks, James Barker Band) and written by Gavin and Karli, “Feel Like Home” is an anthemic country-pop love song that tells the nostalgic tale of growing up in a small town, where every street and landmark holds cherished memories. It is all about finding that special someone who makes you remember that familiar feeling of being somewhere you feel the most comfortable and most like yourself.

“As a small-town girl – that place has such a special place in my heart. This song captures the magic of a small town and finding somebody that gives you that same feeling of pulling back onto those familiar roads. It’s my version of a long song. Ryan Langdon brought the perfect voice to the track, and it so awesome getting to bring the song to its potential with him!” – Karli June

Ryan Langdon, the former MLB prospect renowned for his powerful oak-barrel baritone, joins Karli on the summer love song. Ryan’s 2020 breakout EP “Lit in The Sticks”, featured an impressive collection of six exhilarating country tracks, including his chart-topping single “Country Like You” which has maintained a strong position in the Top 40 on Canadian Country Radio. With nearly 8 million steams, Ryan’s music remains an adored choice among country music fans.

“When I first heard the song “Feel Like Home”, I was immediately excited to be a part of this duet. Not only do I believe our voices match really well together, the message behind the lyrics really resonated with me. One of my biggest values is my homegrown roots, so I always searched for someone who shared these same values. This song really captured what I consider to be the meaning of real love, and I am so excited for the world to hear it.” – Ryan Langdon.

Based in Hamilton, Ontario, Karli June is enjoying her continued career momentum with recent nominations for multiple Country Music Association of Ontario Awards in the categories of Rising Star, Songwriter of The Year for her song “Makes You Pretty”. Karli June’s debut EP “Where You Come From” was nominated for Album of The Year as well as taking out Producer of The Year for the EP’s producer, Karen Kosowski.

The nominations follow a year of career growth in support of Karli’s debut release, which has accumulated over 1.6 million global streams. Karli was also previously selected as a participant in the prestigious TD Incubator for Creative Entrepreneurship powered by the SOCAN Foundation and was selected as Arcadia Broadcasting’s “Break Out Artist” for “Makes You Pretty” in Canada. The track was also Karli’s first foray into the Australia market, peaking at #46 on the National Australian Country Radio Charts and was recently added into rotation on CMT Australia.

Additionally, Karli’s song “The List” was included in the 1% of Honourable Mentions in the International Songwriting Competition 2022 which received over 15,000 submissions.

If Sideways announced the return of James Blundell to the charts, then Queen of The Lost Highway is the perfect follow-up.

Penned by the acclaimed international songwriting team of Australian lyricist Terry McArthur and Finnish composer Mika Kuokkanen, Queen of The Lost Highway is a unique fusion of classic Hank William’s country meets contemporary Americana and Finnish minor chord melancholia.

Producer Larry Campbell’s signature guitar motifs and Little Feat’s Bill Payne’s killer key feels curl around James Blundell’s bittersweet vocals as he laments love’s last rites, eyes wide open and the shadow of a smile on his face…

But don’t take my word for it, let’s see what JAMES BLUNDELL, the man described as the most influential Australian country artist of his generation has to say about queens, lost highways, and the ghost of Hank Williams…

LEMAR: Leon Payne penned The Lost Highway in the 1940s. The song has since
Been covered by a many artists, including Hank Williams .Tom Petty and
Willie Nelson. Queen of The Lost Highway seems like real deal sister song…

JAMES : During my time in Nashville the term Lost Highway developed absolute reality. It was used when artists were suffering burnout or were playing the Don Quixote card. It actually is a very real term in the American music or the Americana Country Palace.

LEMAR: How did you come to record Queen of The Lost Highway?

JAMES: ” The first two lines of the song go ( James sings)
Thought I saw your taillights out along the lake
You always drove so fast, so heavy on the brakes.

They were very representative of my relationship with Lidia, mother of my two oldest children. Lidia drove like a bat out of hell and always hit the brakes real hard. So, the minute I read those lyrics I thought, I actually have to sing this song. It’s a calling.

I resonated immediately with the song and the truth of my relationship with Lidia. It was a very, very strong, very deep committed, and loving relationship. And as it slowly unwound, it was probably the first time in my adult life that I came face-to-face with the fact that sometimes love is actually not enough. There’s all sorts of other forces at play that can determine whether a relationship does the term of each partner’s life.

So, I related to everything about Queen of The Lost Highway ~ its musicality, definitely the nostalgia and definitely the sense of loss, but also recognising the inevitability of the demise of a relationship really, really struck a chord.

LEMAR: You’re taking to the road on the Aussie Legends Hemp Lost Highway Tour October through November. What can fans expect?

JAMES: “The Aussie Legends Hemp Lost Highway Tour is me going live, intimate, and unplugged. I will be playing all the fan favourites and previewing a selection of songs from my new album World Don’t Stop. Can’t wait to do it!”

A new musical maturity shines through on Kiara Rodrigues’ brand new single, ‘Ain’t Your Rehab’.

Following on from Kiara Rodrigues’ radio hits, ‘High School Reunion’ and ‘Message In A Bottle’, comes ‘Ain’t Your Rehab’, and sees the award winning Nash Chambers (Kasey Chambers/Jimmy Barnes/Troy Cassar Daley) return to the producer’s chair.

Chambers again highlights Rodrigues’ continuing growth as a songwriter and an original artist who is carving out her own musical niche.

“I wrote this song thinking about how sometimes we go into relationships thinking we can fix someone and put them back together again”, says Rodrigues. “That can often come at the price of our own wellbeing, and its inevitably unachievable”.

The song has instantly resonated with her audiences when played live.

“I’ve had people come up to me and tell me they’d had this same experience or knew someone in a similar situation”, she says. “Ultimately, it’s not our responsibility to fix somebody, no matter how much we care about them”.

Born to immigrant parents of Indian heritage, Kiara Rodrigues fell in love with country music when she moved to North Queensland at the tender age of nine. Over the years, she has become a wildly popular and certified talent within the Australian country music scene. In 2023, she was named a Grand Finalist for the prestigious Toyota Star Maker competition where she wowed the 10,000 strong crowd at the Tamworth Country Music Festival.

The single, ‘High School Reunion’, debuted at #2 on the iTunes Country Singles Chart, scored high rotation on ABC Country and entered the Countrytown Hot 50 Airplay Chart. Kiara Rodrigues has performed across the globe and is a graduate of the CMAA Senior Academy of Country Music.

‘Ain’t Your Rehab’ is out Friday 6th October through Checked Label Services.

If anyone knows anything about dancing to the beat of a different drum, it’s definitely 16-time Golden Guitar winner Luke O’Shea . This is no more evident than in his new single, ‘Different Drum’.

“This song was written with my great musical mate Chris Matthews who is one of Australia’s hardest working and most travelled musicians,” Luke said.

“We were discussing what was happening in the music world of late and then having a good old laugh at ourselves for we both unconsciously seem to fly directly in the face of what’s fashionable and hip.”

Neither of them sees this as a bad thing, though, as they see the world getting better at acknowledging and accepting people for who they are, regardless of certain beliefs and habits.

“Just as long as we can all remember that one simple ‘golden rule’ … ‘to treat each other as we would like to be treated’,” Luke said.

Filled with a positive story, ‘Different Drum’ spreads the love and the important message that you should just go with what feels right.

“There is a lovely little story and message to this song – plus a real little ‘what the’ moment as the outro that for me – although it ain’t ‘typical’ country – it certainly brings home the message of just going with what feels good, not what you think it should be,” Luke said.

“Just keep dancing!”

‘Different Drum’ is the fourth single, and title track, off Luke’s highly anticipated album, released on CD today and available at gigs and via Luke’s website: lukeoshea.com

The commercial contemporary country song “Don’t Blink” marks the third consistent run of singles for Sammi Palinkas including “Meet in the Middle” which debuted at #3 on the Australian iTunes chart, #8 All Genre, and charted in the official Australian Country Radio Hot 50 Chart (CountryTown), while streaming single “You’ve Lived” debuted at #5 on the Australian iTunes Country Chart.

While currently recording her debut album with award-winning producer, Rod McCormack (Paul Kelly, The Wolfe Brothers and Lee Kernaghan), “Don’t Blink”, co-written with Rod McCormack, serves as a positive, uplifting reminder that life is short and to appreciate every moment whilst we can.

“Rod brought this idea into our write, and I instantly connected with it” Palinkas said. “I had just been retrenched in a restructure at an organisation I had worked at for nearly 10 years, and the period of reflection that came afterwards was invaluable. I had worked hard, long hours, and had been stressed out for a long time. In my last week a friend reminded me that ‘no one was going to stand up at my funeral and say Sammi did a great job at the company I was working for. They were going to talk about my legacy’. At that moment I realised as much as working hard was personally rewarding, there were important moments I’d sacrificed because I had put work first, furthermore time and experiences that I couldn’t get back. My Mum, Dad and Nan have given me so much great life advice as I’ve grown up. Rod and I wanted to write ‘Don’t Blink’ as a gentle reminder to listen to the advice and experience of those around you, because life flies by when we get caught up in the day to day, and it can all be over much sooner than we realise. Cody Johnson’s ‘Til You Can’t’ is a song both Rod and I love. It has such an uplifting feel that draws you in, and then delivers a hook and a message that really makes you think – it’s almost bittersweet against the general feeling of the song. When writing ‘Don’t Blink’, Rod and I wanted to create something positive and memorable to listen to, but when it counts really makes you think.” – Sammi Palinkas

With a lifetime of accolades, from winning a national televised singing competition at age 8, to starring in SEL/GFO’s Melbourne season of “Annie” at age 11, Sammi has developed her craft and written for many years between Australia and the US (LA, NY, Nashville), collaborating with renowned songwriters and producers including Andrew Bolooki (Selena Gomez, The Weekend, Post Malone), Fiona Kernaghan (Mindy McReady, Tina Arena), Sally Barris (Trisha Yearwood, Martina McBride, Lee Ann Womack), Sam Gay (Deric Ruttan, Little Texas, Bryan White) and Templeton Thompson (Reba McEntire, Jo Dee Messina and Little Texas) amongst others.

2 x CMAA Golden Guitar Female Artist of the Year (2022, 2023) and CMC Award (2018) finalist, Hayley Jensen, is set to release a brand-new summer anthem, ‘Welcome Back Summer’ on Friday 29 September 2023.

‘Welcome Back Summer’ is a catchy summer ear-worm, bound to get toes tapping and the crowd singing along! Co-written by Jensen alongside award winning artists Brooke McClymont and Adam Eckersley, it’s about the anticipation and excitement for the return of summer after the colder seasons. A cheerful, upbeat country-pop jam set to be the soundtrack of summer.

“I’ve recently been showcasing freshly written songs at shows, asking the audience to help me choose which ones I should record for the next album. ‘Welcome Back Summer’ was a standout crowd favourite, so I quickly diverted my producer’s focus to start working on it to ensure I could get it out in time for Summer! It celebrates the joys of the season, such as beach parties, the warmth of the sun on your skin, the sand beneath your toes, as well calling out what inevitably happens when it really starts to burn up – we all start ‘whinging about the heat’ – a nod to the banter at Tamworth Country Music Festival each year!” says Hayley.

‘Welcome Back Summer’ follows the hugely successful release of ‘Rock Bottom’, which skyrocketed to #1 in the Australian Country Radio and Country Radio Charts where it stayed in the top spot for 3 consecutive weeks. The unique, colourful music video had heads spinning too and was added to CMT across the board.

‘Bring It On’, released in April this year, also hit #1 on Australian Country Radio Charts and climbed to the #5 spots on KIX Country Hottest 20 and CMT Australia Top 50. It was also released to Country Radio across North America (SiriusXM) & Canadian Country Radio.

Once again, Hayley teamed up with Troy Kokol at Reluctant Cowboy Records, Canada, to produce ‘Welcome Back Summer’, who was also at the helm on her ARIA #1 Charting Country Album, ‘Breakin’ Hearts’, as well as her last two chart topping country radio singles ‘Rock Bottom’ and ‘Bring It On’.

Hayley has been touring extensively throughout 2023, showcasing brand new music at headline shows across the country, as well as performing in top festival spots such as: Tamworth Country Music Festival (headlined main stage), Gympie Music Muster, Charters Towers Country Music Festival (headliner), Stock Route Country Music Festival, Texas QLD Country Music Festival, Lights on the Hill, various PBR Australia Events & Festivals plus many more.