ZFM Country

Courtney Keil continues her ascendancy as one of the best new talents on the Australian country scene with her latest single ‘Little Heartbreak’. The Melbourne based singer / songwriter has seen her previous three singles ‘Where Does All The Love Go’, ‘Hummingbird’, and ‘I Just Wanna Hold You’ all hit No.1 on the iTunes Country Singles charts, with the latter also peaking at #15 on TMN CountryTown Hot 50 airplay chart and earning a semi-finalist spot in the 2020 International Songwriters Competition.

‘Little Heartbreak’ is a song that adds to the rich, time-honoured tradition of lovelorn breakup songs in Country music. “This song is inspired by the challenges of dating and facing ‘little heartbreaks’. Events build on each other: the ‘what if’s,’ first date failures, falling for someone then being rejected”, Keil says. “Our main focus can be on major losses, long term relationship breakdown, and divorce which can underscore the pain and heartache of an ongoing dating cycle.”

Working with Rod McCormack at his Music Cellar studio on the NSW Central Coast, Keil took inspiration from one of the greats of 90s Country and worked with a few legends to bring the track to fruition. “I had the pleasure of writing this with Gina Jeffreys, Rod McCormack, Sam Gay and Templeton Thompson. We were musically inspired by Lee Ann Womack’s 1997 release ‘Man With 18 Wheels’.”

‘Little Heartbreak’ is a bouncy and upbeat song that cleverly hides the pain within the lyric. As Keil sings “I know paper cuts aren’t deep, they still sting and bleed,” this is a song to be uplifted with, after an emotional knock-down. “I hope this song gives the listener space to process the ‘little heartbreaks’ and to honour the pain that comes with them, even if not as outwardly noticeable as the big breaks!” she says.

Keil is set to kick off 2022 in a big way as part of the ‘Country Girls’ Night Out’ tour playing with Gina Jeffreys and Tania Kernaghan, which commences in January at the 50th Tamworth Country Music Festival. She has also been playing the role of June Carter Cash alongside Daniel Thompson in “Johnny Cash: The Concert” throughout 2021 (pre-lockdown) which will be continuing in 2022.

Courtney Keil is well on her way to making an indelible mark on Australia’s country music landscape. ‘Little Heartbreak’ is the latest in a string of singles that has enchanted the hearts of fans everywhere and is set to find and even bigger audience. She is that rare talent to make sunshine out of rain, and that magic is why she is one of the most remarkable up-and-coming talents in Australia right now.

Hello, you’ve heard MICHAEL JAY HUGHES’ hard-hitting song “Dirt Road Whiskey”….But you haven’t heard his two recently released singles….until now, and they are getting international attention. Check out new originals from MJH “Playing With Fire” and “Keith Whitley Songs”.
Additionally, Michael Jay sat down recently and answered some questions with Nashville Voyager Magazine. More to come and more music coming soon!!

“The Ring A Ting Song” opens with Amy Jack’s lush vocals, accompanied by beautiful bells and a steady drum beat, drawing the listener in. Not only does the song have a catchy melody, but the lyrics spread joy and peacefulness around the world. “The Ring A Ting Song” has all the makings of an instant holiday classic.

Emma Dykes is shining a light on homelessness and spreading kindness with her latest single, ‘Walk A Mile’. Released on October 29, Emma was inspired to write ‘Walk A Mile’ after seeing how a homeless man was treated on the subway in New York.

The North Coast singer-songwriter joined forces with Golden Guitar winner Roger Corbett, and they crafted the song to show the human side of homelessness and to remind people to be kind.

“I went to Nashville to record the album, ‘The Riddle of Life’, and (husband) Aaron took me on the subway. There was a man who was telling his story of how he became homeless,” Emma said. “People pretended he wasn’t there and ignored him, but halfway through the trip, a lady and her Son got on the train. The little boy started playing with the man who was homeless and as people watched on, he became just a normal person on the train.

“I’ve always loved the saying ‘walk a mile in someone else’s shoes’. It could be that someone is having a bad day, it’s not necessarily about you, but they may have had rough times. We don’t know, and shouldn’t judge, without walking a mile in their shoes.” Emma said, from the outside looking in, you didn’t know what the man’s story was until he explained that his father had cancer and his family had ended up with no home.

“I wrote it with Roger Corbett when he offered to spend some time with me writing and mentoring. I knew Roger from the Academy of Country Music and it was so good to catch up with him and write something with the same essence but still a bit different to what I normally write,” she said.

“Walk A Mile reminds us that although we might not feel we have much to give people, you can always give them a smile and that’s really needed at the moment. It’s a nice time to release this song for that reason because it has a happy vibe and an inspirational feel.” Emma said we all needed a reminder to choose kindness now and then.

After becoming a mum to her son, Ryder, 18 months ago, it’s been a while between new singles for Emma, but she’s ready to pick up the guitar and get back into making music. “Being a mum now, ‘Walk A Mile’ hits home more than ever,” she said. “I want to make sure we’re going in the right direction in the world for him to grow up in. Our kid’s futures depend on the world we create today”.

Dave Herrera was inspired to write the song Hella Country after working and taking care of his family ranch which is located in a small town surrounded by rice fields, orchard farmers, cattle, vineyards and the hard working blue collar families that keep the small town going.

It’s not just music, it’s a lifestyle, living through and relying on a good or bad season where we might not get necessities like water, when we’re delivered a summer full of droughts or wild fires that alter the growing environments.

Herrera said “what Hella Country means to me is a culture of hard working, never giving up, and doing what we can to provide for our families with the environment that surrounds us.

Herrera wrote the track with the help of Cory Coppin co-writer and produced the track with co-producer Jeff Balding. “Hella Country” was recorded at WestRoc Studios.

Following the massive success of her debut EP “Iconic” and the recent summer smash, Australian #1 Country radio single “Middle Ground”, pop-country sensation Rachael Fahim is delivering another piece of musical gold, with the alluring “Darts In The Dark”, a song that is said to be Rachael’s BEST SONG YET!

Rachael co-wrote “
Darts In The Dark” during the 2021 ‘Country meets pop’ song camp with the songs producer Robby De Sa (The Veronicas / Maya Cumming / The McClymonts), Ned Philpott and US writer Rosi Golan, who has written hits for the likes of Little Big Town, Billy Currington, Lennon Stella and Christina Aguilera.

“When we wrote this song, I was talking about how I often feel stuck while everyone around me seems to be moving forward, life can be a rollercoaster, but you just have to sit back, enjoy the ride and just focus on your own path” says Fahim.

“Rosi had this amazing title and the song just flowed, we literally had a finished production 6 hours later!”

“Darts In The Dark” is the follow-up to her biggest hit ever on country radio, “Middle Ground”, which spent a massive 5 weeks at #1 on the official Australian Country singles airplay chart earlier this year.

Rachael Fahim has been the most streamed Australian female pop-country artist for the last 3 years with over 11 million audio streams since the release of her “Iconic” EP.

The 2017 Star Maker winner has previously been globally promoted as a “Countrywide” feature artist on Apple Music and an “Artist to Watch” on Spotify.

Rachael achieved commercial pop radio airplay with the single, Even If I Wanted To” featuring Brad Cox in 2019. The track was the 2nd most added song to Australian radio the week of release.

Darlinghurst’s long awaited, self-titled debut album debuted at #1 on the ARIA Country Album Chart, #1 on the ARIA Australian Country chart, #9 on the ARIA Album Chart and #1 on the AIR 100% Independent Album Chart.

Over the past two years Darlinghurst have scored 6 x Top 5 The Music Network CountryTown Hot 50 airplay chart hits, were nominated for their very first Golden Guitar for New Talent of the Year and performed at the Groundwater Country Music Festival, Deni Ute Muster, Gympie Music Muster, Live & Loud Stage Tamworth as well as open for artists such as Jimmy Barnes, James Blundell, The Wolfe Brothers and The Black Sorrows.

‘Bad Things’ is the cheekiest track off Darlinghurst’s debut album, sung by the two ‘naughty’ ones of the band! Cassie and Pagan. “We’re pretty confident women, and we thought it was very important for us to put it out there, that it’s okay for women to be expressive; and feel empowered to make decisions about what they desire without judgment.” says Cassie. “And it’s also a cheeky song with a play on words that can raise an eyebrow or two! But yes, throw your hair in the wind, and be you. Just be you!”

Today, 3 x time ARIA Award and 11 x Golden Guitar winning Shane Nicholson announces extra live shows and releases his new radio single ‘Helena’ the follow up to his Top 15 Country Radio single ‘And You Will Have Your Way.’ In line with the release, Shane will also release a live video of ‘Helena.’

Shane describes ‘Helena’ as a dream song. “I’ve never had a dream song before. I was a little bit jealous of people who had. I woke up one morning and had the title and sort of a little melody in my head. ‘It only hurts for a while’ is the tagline. In the dream it was ‘Helena it only hurts ’till you die’ – that was a little bit sadder [he laughs], maybe not as hopeful. That was the original version I wrote. I backtracked a bit and thought no I’m gonna make this a little more hopeful and open-ended.

“It was fun to record. I was having a great time, playing and playing, then I started adding backing vocals and I got carried away with it one night. You know, a couple of whiskeys and a microphone. It ballooned into something bigger and shinier than I thought it would.”

Living In Colour was released in August, hit Top 5 on the ARIA Country Chart and is nominated for ARIA Best Country Album. It was written and recorded in Shane’s Central Coast studio pretty much on his own due to Covid restrictions. I just found it fun to be doing it myself. It was sort of a return to the old days, my teenage years, when I had my first Pro-Tools set up on old computer and I was making demos and putting songs together, learning about the mechanics of production in a bedroom in Brisbane in my parents’ house,” he says excitedly. “I haven’t really done that since then, being able to sit there by myself and pick up instrument after instrument. It was mostly me and a bottle of whiskey into the night, that was it.

ABOUT SHANE NICHOLSON

Nicolson’s storied career started in the late 1990s with his first Brisbane based band Pretty Violet Stain. With a solo career launch in 2002 with the release of ‘It’s a Movie’, he’s since followed up with nine albums, including 2015 ARIA Award winning ‘Hell Breaks Loose’ and 2 x ARIA Award winning albums with Kasey Chambers – the platinum selling, ARIA No.1 album ‘Rattlin’ Bones’ and ‘Wreck and Ruin’. With 11 x CMAA Golden Guitar awards under his belt including 2021 APRA Song of the Year for ‘The High Price of Surviving’, Nicolson has also been recognised internationally with 2 nominations for USA Americana Music Association awards. As a seasoned producer, Nicholson has been busy working with Alex Lloyd, Tori Forsyth, Beccy Cole, Michael Waugh and Camille Trail.

Nicholson is a rare talent who has bridged the gap between Alt-country and the mainstream. He crafts his songs seamlessly and can wrap up difficult subject matters with music of uplifting beauty and charm. He has released 4 songs from Living In Colour – The High Price Of Surviving, Harvest on Vinyl, Life Ain’t Fine and his latest single, And You Will Have Your Way’ which captures Nicholson’s charismatic talent for writing striking songs that pay tribute to the unpredictability of human experience.

Pioneer of the Australian Hip Hop scene and Yorta-Yorta man Briggs is releasing his newest single ‘Shadows’ ft Troy Cassar-Daley today through Island Records Australia.

An adaptation of the Troy Cassar-Daley original ‘Shadows On The Hill’, this unique collaboration produced by Jaytee Hazard, brings together two iconic artists to acknowledge an important part of Australia’s history.

”Shadows On The Hill’ started its song line around a fire on Gumbaynggirr country at our men’s camp. There was one powerful moment for all of us when a massacre was mentioned that happened up the river from where we camped with our families for many generations, the wind died down, the air around us was still and not one bird sang. My old uncle stood up and said, ‘Don’t be scared the old people know we are here; they are just letting us know’. The trees on the mountains across the river from us stood long and lonely. I believe the old people gave me this song to acknowledge the pain and to share one of the many brutal stories of this land and more importantly to share the truth. Because song lines never end and make their way through thousands of generations, I shared the song with Briggs so the next generation can hear the story of the ‘Shadows On The Hill’ Troy Cassar-Daley.

Briggs says on the song ‘Shadows was brought to me by Troy; I was honoured he’d share this part of his story with me. There was so much depth and this haunting truth that is woven through his words.’

‘As a kid I’d often remember rumours about what parts of Melbourne were old ‘graveyards.’ Which I guess is a way to explain a massacre site or to reconcile it for young ears. Where the bodies dropped they built a fuckin parking lot.’

‘Australia has a hard time acknowledging its truth. There’s a partial map of massacre sites in the artwork. It’s documented; it’s factual. The first war began in 1788. It had all the symptoms of a war. There were opposing nations, a clear objective of taking land, everything in it and the expansion of the Crown. Australia enjoys its cherry-picked history.’

‘Genocide isn’t just rifles. It’s in introducing dependency and then removing the care. It’s exclusion from the health care system, it’s exclusion from the economy and society.’

‘Governor Macquarie said, ‘Hang the natives from the tree to deter others.’ They named a Bank, University and many other streets and landmarks after him. People get cancelled for tweets in 2021, this guy still has a statue.’

‘Blackfullas personify survival. We embody the values of our culture; that’s what we carry.’

The song features as part of the forthcoming ABC two-part series ‘Going Country’. Hosted by Justine Clarke, the series premieres on Tuesday November 2 at 8:30pm and travels to locations that have played an integral part in the creation and inspiration of iconic county music songs as well as the lives of the artists who have helped shape Australian Country.

Award-winning songwriter Blake Dantier returns with his new single and video ‘Layover’ , following on from the success of his previous single ‘Last Call’, which spent 14 weeks on the CountryTown Hot 50 airplay charts, peaking at #8. It caps off a successful year for Dantier and one that doesn’t look like slowing down any time soon.

Layover’ comes with a sunny disposition perfect for the onset of the hot Australian summer. “It’s got a real laid-back groove that we tried to make reminiscent of a tropical paradise”, Dantier says. A keen amateur brewer, he has made a name for himself of late with songs inspired by whiskey, beer and good times, but this time its tinged with a side order of melancholy and heartbreak. “My previous few songs have been about drinking but this one’s something different,” he says. “With only some really slight references to drinking. It tells the story of a guy who proposes to his girlfriend on a vacation, only to have her say no. Awkward as hell. He finds out in a pretty rough way that he was just a layover, while she was waiting for the next guy to come along.”

With the single produced by Simon Johnson at Hillbilly Huts studios, the lyric video for ‘Layover’ was produced by Dantier during a spark of pandemic-induced creativity. “As you can imagine, being a couple of months deep in a COVID lockdown gave me a lot of time to experiment with things. The video went through a couple of different versions, but I eventually settled on something really simple. The track is chill and uncomplicated, so I wanted the video to reflect that”, Dantier says.

2021 has been a successful year for Dantier, picking up two gongs at the Tamworth Songwriters Salute Awards, for New Songwriter of The Year and Country Ballad of The Year. He’s been active on the road, both with his own shows and as a sideman to his fiancé Cass Hopetoun, who recently toured with Hurricane Fall. He will be featured as a guitar-slinger in Cass Hopetoun’s band supporting The Wolfe Brothers later in the year. You can next catch Dantier performing his hit singles at the Tamworth Country Music Festival in 2022.

Blake Dantier has proven himself as a versatile and prodigious songwriter, able to create music that captures the mood of the moment. The Music Network has described him as “One of the most exciting prospects on the local country scene” and with ‘Layover’, he’s about to continue to fly high to bigger and better triumphs.