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 three 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.

Josh Rennie-Hynes - Any Longer

Any Longer, the latest release from US-based Australian artist, Josh Rennie-Hynes, is all about setting a scene and telling a story.

Rennie-Hynes is a singer-songwriter with storytelling abilities akin to Australia’s own Paul Kelly and Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, blending an indie-folk style with authentic country. With Any Longer, he cuts deep with a bittersweet story of living life on the road and surrendering to love, weaving a classic roots sound with an effortless modern grit.

Building a fanbase not just in Australia, but also in New Zealand and the US, Rennie-Hynes has found further recognition thanks to his music playing in the popular Netflix series, Virgin River. 

Jeff Orson - Bootleggers

Toronto, Canada-based singer-songwriter Jeff Orson doesn’t have your typical music story. Since being diagnosed with cancer in 2014, Orson started composing country songs from his hospital bed. The rest, as they say, is history.

On his latest song, Bootleggers, Orson found inspiration in a friend who made plum brandy on the balcony of his apartment. From there, Orson looked further, researching articles into illicit distilling in the highlands of Scotland, as well as bootlegging during the US prohibition era.

With Bootleggers, Orson has created a modern-day timeless song that won’t be leaving your playlist rotation—or your imagination—any time soon.

Kerryn Fields - Fork In The Road

There’s no storyteller quite like Kerryn Fields. Rightly an adored artist in Australia, she has consistently impressed listeners with her songwriting, instrumentation, and honeyed vocals.

Her latest track, Fork In The Road, is lifted from her excellent EP, The Folk Singer. Written as a heartbreaking response to a stranger asking why she doesn’t have children, Fields has created a raw, emotional, deeply honest song that many can relate to. As she takes listeners through her journey, it only becomes more heartbreaking—and essential—to keep listening, and learn from her message. 

Fields has long utilised her music as a vehicle for telling stories about human beings. She’s a favourite at festivals, including the Woodford Folk Festival and Folk Alliance in the US, taking to stages in Australia, New Zealand, the US, and Canada. 

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