Every week, ABC Country's Grass Roots program shines a light on the best independently released country music. 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.

Matt Ward - Petrichor

One of Australia’s finest storytellers, Matt Ward, knows how to move an audience.

With the melodic Petrichor, his engaging vocals are accompanied by acoustic guitar, drums, and pedal steel. It’s a song about falling in love, while sharing similarities with Ward’s second job as an environmental scientist.

In fact, he draws from the meaning of Petrichor—the smell of raindrops that fall on a bone-dry road—for a song that’s effortlessly emotional. The ARIA #1 charting artist said of his new song:

“Petrichor is a song about falling in love, and a nod to my parallel career in land management. Named after the smell of rain (coined by the CSIRO), it reflects my ornithology background with lyrics like ‘I hear the dawn before it’s rising’ and ‘I smell the rain before it falls,’ symbolising pure and natural love.”

Jenny Mitchell - Heart Like A House

If Jenny Mitchell’s new album, Forest House, wasn’t already a highly anticipated album for you, it will be after hearing Heart Like A House.

The moving track finds Mitchell playing the guitar and showcasing her heavenly voice. The New Zealand Best Country Artist award winner and Golden Guitar nominee is currently opening for Kasey Chambers in Australia and will perform at the Gympie Music Muster in August.

The album’s centrepiece, Mitchell said of the track: “Heart Like A House is inspired by how important it is to me to build a life in music that is welcoming and safe for my band and my team – which has largely been influenced by watching other artists carve their own paths that don’t necessarily fit the mainstream industry model. It’s also really influenced by my upbringing, in a family who have always kept welcoming and hosting as a core value.” 

Forest House will be released on Friday, 16 May, via Civilians.

Cactus Lee - Got A Heart Like Rainwater Blues

Cactus Lee – led by singer and songwriter Kevin Dehan – is back with the jaunty number, Got A Heart Like Rainwater Blues. Yet another earworm from the Texan troubadour, the Americana-inspired song is up-tempo and exciting, its pace addictive.

Known as an artist with “Texas music at its core, a blend of Austin nightclub vibes, and dusty dancefloor energy,” Lee showcases his deep love for Texas country songwriters with his dreamy brand of Americana-focused music.

Throughout the uplifting track, Lee assures the listener that “the sadness isn’t gonna win” as the song chugs along with great force. Just the message we all need sometimes.

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