Australian country music is a part of the music of Australia. There is a broad range of styles, from bluegrass, to yodelling to folk to the more popular. The genre has been influenced by Celtic and English folk music, by the traditions of Australian bush balladeers, as well as by popular American country music. Themes include: outback life, the lives of stockmen, truckers and outlaws, songs of romance and of political protest; and songs about the "beauty and the terror" of the Australian bush.
Notable musicians include: Steve Eales, Adam Brand, Adam Harvey, McAlister Kemp, Jasmine Rae, Troy Cassar-Daley, Davidson Brothers, Slim Dusty, Steve Forde, Joy McKean, Olivia Newton-John, John Williamson, Chad Morgan, Keith Urban, Lee Kernaghan, Peter McWhirter, Forever Road and Kasey Chambers. Others influenced by the genre include Nick Cave and Paul Kelly. Popular songs include Waltzing Matilda (1895), Pub With No Beer (1957), Lights on the Hill (1973), I Honestly Love You (1974), True Blue (1981), Boys From the Bush (1992), Not Pretty Enough (2002) and Drive It Till The Wheels Fall Off (2006).
Read more about Australian Country Music: Overview, Awards and Festivals
Famous quotes containing the words australian, country and/or music:
“Each Australian is a Ulysses.”
—Christina Stead (1902–1983)
“Lars Jorgensen: It’s this country killed my boy. Yes, by golly, I tell you Ethan—
Mrs. Jorgensen: Now Lars. It just so happens we be Texicans. A Texican is nothing but a human man way out on a limb, this year, and next, maybe for a hundred more. But I don’t think it’ll be forever. Someday this country’s going to be a fine good place to be. Maybe it needs our bones in the ground before that time can come.”
—Frank S. Nugent (1908–1965)
“As if, as if, as if the disparate halves
Of things were waiting in a betrothal known
To none, awaiting espousal to the sound
Of right joining, a music of ideas, the burning
And breeding and bearing birth of harmony,
The final relation, the marriage of the rest.”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)