Sara Berki On Her Goals For 2025: 'Putting It All In Place & Being Present In What I’m Writing About'

2024 was a massive year for Sara Berki. Early in the year, she went viral after performing the John Denver classic, Take Me Home, Country Roads, before an AFL game in Brisbane.

The performance was described as a “defining moment” that “seamlessly blended the worlds of sports and music into an unforgettable experience.”

Other huge moments for the Southern Highlands-based singer-songwriter in 2024 included covering Lainey Wilson’s Out Of Oklahoma for the Twisters Soundtrack Brisbane Showcase, performing at SXSW, and opening for Dasha, who hosted a one-off fan show in Sydney.

Amid viral online fame, Berki didn’t stop working on new music. In October, she was signed to Warner Music Australia, joining an impressive roster of artists, including James Johnston, Morgan Evans, Ashley McBryde, and more. Upon her signing, she shared the heartbreaking single twice.

Following the signing news, Berki announced that she had been booked for her first-ever headline tour of Australia. Across the national tour, she will perform a combination of two sets: a solo acoustic set and a full band set.

The tour will see her stop in Brisbane, Wollongong, Sydney, Perth, Adelaide, and Melbourne. Discussing the whirlwind year she’s experienced, culminating in her debut headline tour, Berki admits that it’s all been overwhelming—but great. It’s what she’s worked towards for her entire career.

“It’s overwhelming, but it’s also great,” Berki tells Countrytown. “Everything about it is what I’ve wanted for so long, and I’m finally here. I think the thing [about] being an artist is that you dream of these things happening, and then when they do happen, it’s always the next steps.

“It’s a time to look back on everything that you’ve done and where you’ve been. It’s pretty amazing [looking back on] where I was and where I am now. So, it’s all good things. Things are looking up.”

Of course, booking a tour across the nation can be nerve-wracking. Many tour announcements we see (and report on) focus on the East Coast, with performers only performing in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane. But Berki is taking her music everywhere and is up for the challenge.

“It’s scary because I don’t know how many people are going to turn up,” she shares. “All I can hope for is that people want to come and see Sara Berki, see us live, and want to see the new music that we’ve got for [2025]. It’s going to be big; it’s going to be real big.”

Opening up about the unique layout of the tour with two sets a night, Berki credits the idea to her manager, Dan Biddle.

“That idea actually came from my manager, Dan Biddle,” Berki explains. “I think because I am such a songwriter—like, there’s so much to my songwriting and places where I go that when I sing the songs, I don’t explain them when I’m in a big band set.

She continues, “It’s so cool that I get to do that, to tell people about where the idea came from, what I was thinking, what she was wearing, what he looked like, where I was, where I had to go to write that song. It’s going to be really great.

“I get to play songs that might only be a verse and a chorus, a verse and a chorus and no bridge, but I get to explain the writing process and songs that are finished and haven’t been cut yet at the studio. I’m so, so excited for that about my tour. I think it’s going to be awesome.”

While there’s new music to come (more on that later), twice was a hell of a song to end 2024. twice was inspired by Ella Langley and written in collaboration with producer Liam Quinn.

Throughout the writing process, Berki pictured how the song would play out, which would end up featuring the line, “Didn’t know you like brunettes.” Whether or not you relate to the characters in the song, you recognise the exact kind of feelings Berki is evoking.

Berki recalls, “It was Liam Quinn’s idea to call the song twice, and he’s going, ‘You won’t be fooling me twice.’ And I’m like, ‘What is that?’ He goes, ‘I think we need to write a song, like, he’s left and or she’s left with the car, and he’s still there and he’s trying to contact her.

“Who I was thinking about when I was writing this? It was Ella Langley, and I just pictured, whoever I was with, my partner; he’s gone off and spoken with her, and they’ve got a little thing going on, and I’ve just gone, ‘Good riddance to you. I’ve taken the car.’

“There’s a line in the song that says, ‘Didn’t know that you like brunettes.’ That’s what I was thinking about; that’s where my head was at. It’s such a funny little ditty [laughs]. But if I ever met her [Langley], I’d like to say that I was thinking about her.”

I’d love to see you two on a tour together.

Berki is understandably nervous by that statement. “Maybe one day! I think I’d get shy around her.”

But Berki does have some artists she’d love to share a stage with, and one of them, she will spend time with next month: Tyler Childers, who’s headlining the inaugural Howlin’ Country festival in Newcastle.

“Oh my god, that’s so hard [laughs]. I love The Castellows, the three sisters. They’re just so boss; I love them so much,” she begins. “Tyler Childers – I am playing a festival where Tyler Childers is playing.

“Look, there's so many people—Carter Faith. I love Carter Faith. Ashley Cooke, oh, dear… Ella Langley, Jenna Paulette… Jenna Paulette, I’m absolutely obsessed with her at the moment, her style, and how true she is to herself as a person and as an artist. I would love to tour with Jenna Paulette. She would be my number one out of that whole pool of amazing artists.”

Musing on the excellent Howlin’ Country line-up, Berki lists the artists who are performing: Sons Of The East. Austin Mackay. Brad Cox. Taylor Moss. Hudson Rose. Willie Carlisle. S.G. Goodman. Y.O.G.A. Finnian Johnson.

“I’m actually so excited for that,” she states. “I’ve been a massive Tyler Childers fan for so long, and he’s headlining. Not only am I playing the same festival as him, I’m seeing him perform!”

2025 is shaping up to be an exciting year for Berki. There’s her headline tour, Howlin’ Country, and new music on the way. Berki has a new song coming out in February, which will tie in with her upcoming tour dates. She’s also begun teasing the song on social media, revealing its title: looks like.

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What can people expect from the song? Berki says it’s “great” and will remind fans of “many of my other OG Sara Berki songs.” She adds, “People can relate to it. I’m so excited for it. It’s one of my favourite songs in the mix of new music that I’ve been working on.”

As if the plans mentioned above weren’t enough, Berki has spent time in the US—specifically visiting Nashville—this month. “I’m doing the damn thing!” she laughs.

“I’m going over; I just have so many people that I want to work and write with, a list of producers that I’d love to get in the same room with, session musicians that I’d love to have play on my songs and figure out what it is about my music that I feel in my heart.

“I can’t wait to really home in on what it is that Sara Berki is: my sound and everything about me,” she continues. “I think that 2025 is going to be a massive year. [2024] was definitely growth. [2025] is just about putting it all in place, being in America and being present in what I’m writing about. That’s my main goal.”

Sara Berki will tour Australia and perform at Howlin’ Country festival in February. You can pre-save looks like here.

Sara Berki

‘Fool Me Twice’ 2025 Australian Tour

Presented by Lonely Lands Agency

Friday 7 February - Leftys Music Hall, Brisbane, QLD

Saturday 8 February - La La La’s, Wollongong, NSW

Friday 14 February - Waywards, Sydney NSW

Friday 21 February - Four5Nine, Perth, WA

Saturday 22 February - Grace Emily, Adelaide, SA

Friday 28 February - The Workers Club, Melbourne, VIC

Tickets: saraberki.com

HOWLIN COUNTRY MUSIC FESTIVAL

LINE-UP:

TYLER CHILDERS

BRAD COX

SONS OF THE EAST

TAYLOR MOSS

AUSTIN MACKAY

WILLI CARLISLE - JUST ADDED!

S.G GOODMAN - JUST ADDED!

Y.O.G.A. - JUST ADDED!

FINNIAN JOHNSTON - JUST ADDED!

HUDSON ROSE - JUST ADDED!

SARA BERKI - JUST ADDED!

CHEAP WHISKEY DJS

ALL AGES EVENT

SATURDAY 15 FEBRUARY - NEWCASTLE FORESHORE, NSW

FINAL RELEASE TICKETS ON SALE NOW