by Sarah Thompson of Camp Cope:
When I first moved to Melbourne, I used to go to The Old Bar a lot on my way home from work to sit by the fire and hang out with friends who worked there. Two years in, I was still in awe that you could go to a venue on a freezing Tuesday night and see a band play.
In 2011 I happened to be there when I saw Courtney play for the first time, alongside Bob Harrow from Immigrant Union. I didn’t know who she was, but I ended up missing my tram home to stay and watch their whole set.
Courtney and I had a lot of mutual friends, so in turn, we started seeing each other around the place and became friends over the next couple of years. I’d see her play everywhere from backyard house shows in the pouring rain, to tiny bars with a capacity of around 40. Seeing her then move on to play giant theatres globally, on US talk shows, and playing to mass crowds at some of the world’s biggest festivals was so mind-blowing to watch.
The impact she’s had on young Australian artists (women and non-binary people in particular) is huge, and something that we’ll continue to see for many years to come. She brought women playing guitar music back to the mainstream, without having to be dressed up in a certain way or compromising her art.
Courtney and her band are some of the most hard-working people I’ve had the privilege to know, and deserve every success that has come their way. The fact that she is as humble today as she was playing to three people at The Old Bar is a testament to her, and I couldn’t be prouder of someone’s success.
My little/long outro: Barnett’s debut album entitled sometimes i sit and think and sometimes i just sit of 2015 embedded from Bandcamp at the very top of the post and then it’s Camp Cope second album How To Socialise & Make Friends just above also from Bandcamp too!
As you can tell by now, I’ve passed over a huge pile of artists, sorry to fans of #32 Parkway Drive, #31 Billy Thorpe, #30 Tina Arena, #29 Keith Urban, #28 Savage Garden, #27 Hilltop Hoods, #26 Powderfinger and #25 Men At Work. Off course, all of these acts you’ll most likely already known because they’re all some of the biggest mainstream acts in OZ! I guess, like most of this list? Nothing wrong with that but not my thing, reminding I’m just re-posting my own all-time favorites, OK? But hopefully not being a total asshole about it, I’m ending this Monday morning post with a huge pile of songs from Youtube of these artists which I’ve picked one tracks per act out below:
Parkway Drive’s Vice Grip
Most People I Know (Think That I’m Crazy) by Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs
Burn by Tina Arena
Amy Shark’s Love Songs Ain’t for Us featuring Keith Urban
To The Moon & Back by Savage Garden
The Nosebleed Section by Hilltop Hoods
Already Gone by Powderfinger
Men At Work’s Who Can It Be Now?
BTW anyone else who like/love to share some kind-of list of your very own favorite Aussie artists of all-time with me, please do so below at anytime in this countdown? I’m working on one myself and to say the least, it’s getting a little insane!
Cheers 🙂
a1000mistakes 