My Countrytown: Sara Storer – Wemen, VIC

Regional towns are in our blood here at CountryTown! From Tamworth to Toowoomba, Ballarat to Noojee, we love the pubs, the people and the places that make Australia tick. But most of all, we love the amazing country musicians our regional centres produce, like Sara Storer.

Growing up on a wheat farm in Victoria, Sara now lives on a farm just outside of Darwin with her husband and four sons. She is one of Australia’s most-loved singer-songwriters, a 21-time Golden Guitar winner whose crisp observations of the Australian landscape and its people provide the solid foundation stone for her music. Three of her seven studio albums reached the top 30 on the ARIA Albums Chart, Firefly (2005), Lovegrass (2013) and Silos (2016), with the latter also taking home the ‘Best Country Album’ ARIA Award.

Sara will perform at Groundwater Country Music Festival this November 12-14. With its unique combination of country music charm, ocean calm and tropical palms, Groundwater promises to deliver a memorable weekend of sun, sand, surf, sophistication and incredible sounds. For more information, visit https://groundwatercmf.com

To get to know Sara a little better, we’ve asked what she loves about Wemen, Victoria.

Farm

I lived on a farm just outside a tiny town called Wemen, which is located in the Mallee, North West Victoria, with a population around 100 or so, it sat right on the edge of the mighty Murray river.

Community Hall

Our farm was about 10kms from Wemen. The town at the time had a general store and a community hall and that was about it! That hall holds great memories as a child, whether it was waiting for Santa to arrive, dancing at the annual Wemen ball or playing tennis out the back, the hall gathered our community. It was surrounded by grapevines and, as kids, we were very careful not to get caught picking the best ripened grapes off the vines. How many grapes can you fit into your mouth at one time?

Nan and Pop’s House

My most vivid memories of my hometown were visiting Nan and Pop’s house. They lived in a little house on top of a hill. At the bottom of the hill was a huge billabong! It was like a resort for us kids. We’d stuff our faces with Nan’s homemade toffee, grab some frozen lamb chops out of the freezer and head off catching yabbies for hours in that billabong. It was safe for kids. We could swim and camp there.

River Swims

We grew up in a time when rules were relaxed, when you could jump on the back of the ute and not be dobbed in by someone. We’d hang on, head down to the river and have adventures. We were never allowed to swim in the river unless Mum and Dad were with us. Mum was very strict about that and even with her, we were only allowed up to our ankles. Well … we’d sneak in swims here and there without her knowing and we’re still alive to tell the story!

Fresh Produce

Wemen was lucky to be able to draw water from the river for the ‘blockies’ in the region. They grew all sorts of things, grapes, lettuce, corn, watermelons and carrots to name a few. My mate, Megan’s house was right beside a corn field. Her father worked on that block. Fresh cooked corn and butter, salt and pepper! The best! Or a big fat juicy cold watermelon! Those were the days!

To keep up to date with Sara, follow her on Facebook here.

For more of our My CountryTown series, check out here.

Image: Supplied