James Blundell, The Dollys & Jemma Beech: Highlights From This Week's 'Grass Roots'

Every week, ABC Country's Grass Roots program shines a light on the best independently released Australian country content. Selected from the hundreds of new tracks submitted, the one-hour program is now available on demand as well as premiering each Monday at 9 pm on ABC Country, showing the health of Aussie country music across all its sub-genres. Here are four of this week's tracks you should have on your radar. 

Head here to have a listen to this week’s full episode of Grass Roots.

James Blundell – Whiskey Tree

Australian country music legend James Blundell is kickstarting his new album era in style. With Whiskey Tree, he transports listeners straight to their local bar with his friend next door, singing and riffs that wouldn’t sound out of place on an old-school country music jukebox.

Whiskey Tree is the latest track from Blundell’s forthcoming album, World Don’t Stop and comes ahead of Blundell’s 60th birthday later this year.

Kicking things off with the ominous first line, “Let me tell you in my hometown there’s a thousand ways you can drown,” Blundell adds: “The levee’s broke, the town has disappeared under raging flood waters, all you can hear is the sound of pouring rain – and right there in the middle of this calamity is a survivor whose spent the night stuck on a roof and now as the sun rises all he can see a river of mud and a whiskey tree!”

The Dollys – Weathering The Storm

New Zealand trio The Dollys are back with a song that explores the hardships of being in the music industry and how they work to overcome them by singing in harmony.

Weathering The Storm includes the symbolic reference to three birds: a sparrow, dove, and eagle, which they say “represents the stages of strength of where we first started as a group and how much we grew.”

A tender song that showcases the strength of their vocals, Weathering The Storm also demonstrates the group’s bond and connection and how much they remind us of a sisterhood.

Jemma Beech – One Horse Town

You can’t get past the power of a transportive song. One Horse Town, the latest offering from 2024 Toyota Star Maker finalist Jemma Beech, was co-written with Jake Davey and inspired by Beech’s time spent living in the mining town of Paraburdoo in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

With One Horse Town, Beech finds a nostalgic and innovative angle that works for her.

It’s a refreshing take on the small-town narrative, with Beech bringing her quintessential Australian upbringing to a song that utilises the inspirations of the likes of Trisha Yearwood, The Chicks, and Shania Twain.

You can listen to the latest full episode of ABC Country’s Grass Roots here.