Mackenzie May, Jethro Morris & Roger Knox: 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 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.

Mackenzie May - Old School Kind Of Love

Central Queensland newcomer Mackenzie May has a voice and storytelling ability beyond her years.

The 18-year-old singer has just released her second song, Old School Kind Of Love. In this instantly charming track, May captures the authentic essence of country music while drawing inspiration from classic love stories and relationships that have stood the test of time. It’s nostalgic yet fresh in the best possible way.

For May, the subject matter of her new song is personal, as she looked to her grandparents as an example of the kind of relationship described in her song.

May said of her latest song, “I dedicate this song to my nan and Pop. They have been married for almost 66 years, and I love listening to the stories of Pop picking up Nan and taking her to a dance at one of the small local halls.”

Jethro Morris - Welcome Home

On the mostly acoustic, introspective single Welcome Home, Central Coast-based singer-songwriter Jethro Morris effortlessly blends folk-punk energy with country music. Sound unusual? Sure. But listening to the song, it makes sense.

Welcome Home is a quirky, fun song that tracks subject matters of personal growth, reflection, tragedy, resilience, and love. In it, he pulls inspiration from diverse influences, including Elliott Smith, Stella Donnelly, and John Mayer.

Morris said of the unique track: “Welcome Home takes certain memories of my life and places them in different rooms of a house that I wonder through… There are nods to things my family and friends recognise, such as the cover art being a friend’s house that I reference in the first verse and more personal moments that I sing about in the second verse.

“It was inspired by a sketch I had done where you could see rooms, furniture, memories, inside of someone's head, and what it would be like for someone to show you just a little bit of their ‘house.’”

Roger Knox - Black Tear Tracks

It isn’t often that a song has been around for ten years before it’s officially released, but that’s exactly what happened with Black Tear Tracks.

Black Tear Tracks is a milestone release for Roger Knox, as it marks the first original music he’s released. The Gomeroi songman and storyteller, AKA the Koori King of Country, has been performing the song live for several years since originally writing it in 2015.

Written by Roger Knox, Toby Martin, and Jason Walker, Black Tear Tracks recounts the story of the pain of separation. It’s based on Knox’s mother’s story, who was separated from her birth parents and lived a new life in a girls’ home. She was part of the Stolen Generation and denied access to her own language, culture, and lineage.

Knox said of the song, “She continued to protect us, and she never told us what she had been through. I didn’t find out anything she had gone through til after she died.”

Black Tear Tracks is the first taste of Knox’s forthcoming sixth album, Buluunarbi And The Old North Star, which is due for release later this year. The album marks Knox’s first album containing original material.

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