Front Deck Boom Box: Bo’Ness

Growing up in a musical family, Bo’Ness – comprised of identical twins, Callum and Jackson McPartlane – have been on stage since they could strum a chord. Now those stages include the Red Hot Summer Tour – a national tour (featuring Aussie rock giants like James Reyne, Jimmy Barnes and The Angels) on which Bo’Ness have been the opening act these last two years.

They competed on the small screen in 2020, making it to the Top 20 on The Voice Australia and were named semi-finalists in the International Songwriting Competition the same year. They’re also proud ambassadors for Kind is Cool and Bullyzero.

Their current single Still Young follows Light Up The Airwaves, which peaked at #16 on the Countrytown Hot 50 Country Airplay Chart and received over 110,000 streams on Spotify and counting. It also ranked at #48 on the 2022 Australian mid-year airplay charts list here.

We caught up with Bo’Ness to find out what songs they’ve been listening to for this week’s Front Deck Boom Box.

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Callum

1. 15 Feet of Snow – Diesel

It’s just a fantastic song that, although having a pace that is comparable to Tip of My Tongue, it elevates to an even higher level in the acoustic performance. I admire the studio version, but Diesel's vocal delivery and the change to an acoustic tune are both impressive. Astonishing and completely fascinating with a nice country acoustic sound which I am always drawn towards of course.

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2. Something Good's Gonna Happen - The Wolfe Brothers

Particularly with Amy Sheppard, it provides that extra harmony that really suits. It's a new, fresh country feel with a pop touch that I truly love listening to. I've seen The Wolfe Brothers perform live a few times, and after each performance, this was the song that I just couldn't get out of my brain. It's catchy, and I really like it.

3. Fire & Ice - Andrew Swift

After hearing this song, I was an immediate fan of Andrew Swift's song writing style and would later do a co-write with him for that exact reason. I think he’s a great example to showcase how good Australian country music can be, and this sounds amazing, once again a feature bringing in amazing harmonies makes this a 10 out of 10. Catherine Britt was the perfect fit for this amazing song.

Jackson

1. Black Sky - Drew McAlister

One half of one of our favourite duos McAlister Kemp, Drew McAlister released Black Sky, the self-titled name of his album and there was a reason why! Drew has a powerhouse of a voice and in this track, it features a country/rock sound which he belts out. Also, we’ve grown up with Drew and Troy Kemp and they’re lovely people – hints to why we covered Fight Me.

2. Took the Children Away - Archie Roach

The first song to ever win a major Australian Human Rights Award was Took the Children Away, a highly emotional song by Archie Roach from his first album Charcoal Lane in 1990. It had an instant effect, bringing Australia's deplorable historical practices of separating children from their families into glaring relief. The song has crossed oceans and into the hearts of First Nations communities all across the world.

3. Happy - Travis Collins

Travis Collins, since I was young, has been in my life both as a person and, as we all know him, as a “musician” with his songs, but there is some magic with this track Happy, which he released on his Golden guitar winning album Brave & the Broken… it shares all the stresses in life that we can all relate to and just remembering to be happy first!