VIDEO PREMIERE: Alison Hams – ‘Broken Ground’

Today, Countrytown is proudly premiering Broken Ground, the new single and debut music video from Alison Hams.

The song tells the story of the harshness and contradiction of living on the Australian landscape. Filmed in South Australia's Flinders Ranges, its accompanying music video showcases a stunningly beautiful part of Australia in cinematic HD.

READ MORE: Mark Tempany & Alison Hams Share How The Pandemic Inspired Them To Make Music Again

Hams tells us the clip was filmed and produced by husband and musical partner Mark Tempany on Edeowie Station, 400km north of Adelaide. It marks the duo's first video release from their 2023 album Out Into The Blue.

Hams says of the effort: “Back in the early 2000s, when we last recorded our original music, it was nearly impossible for an independent artist to afford, let alone self-produce their own music video. We're really enjoying the artistic process these days, and the experiences gained filming in such incredible places will stay with us for a lifetime.”

Broken Ground is the second song released from Out Into The Blue, following Lullaby back in May. Since its release, the lead single has registered multiple Top Ten chart positions across Australia. “Our album journey is only just beginning,” Hams says. “There's a lot more to come and we're really excited for everyone to hear it, and see it!”

In other exciting news, Hams has just been named as one of three finalists for the Humanitarian Award at this year’s Australian Women In Music Awards – her second such nomination in three years. Earlier this month, too, she linked up with Becky Cole for an interview on ABC Radio’s Saturday Night Country program (which you can revisit here).

To celebrate the release of Broken Ground, Hams and Tempany tell us more about South Australia's magnificent Flinders Ranges. See the video below, and read on to learn more about Hams and Tempany’s My Countrytown.

The Location

South Australia's Flinders Ranges stretch hundreds of kilometres northwards into the outback from Port Augusta, and including countless tourist hotspots such as Wilpena Pound and Arkaroola. World-renowned for their exceptional ruggedness and ever-changing colours, the Flinders offered an incredible canvas to paint our Broken Ground story on.

Edeowie Station

Situated on the western side of Wilpena Pound and the Ikara Flinders Ranges National Park, Edeowie is a sheep Station settled in 1859. Soon after in the 1860s, a long and severe drought saw the settlement almost collapse – but somehow it survived to become the pastoral success and self-catering tourist accommodation it is today. We were honoured to be given the run of the property by then managers Wendy and Peter to shoot Broken Ground.

The Shoot

Edeowie hosted our Broken Ground shoot over three days, seeing us undertaking very early mornings by torchlight as we prepared for the magical colours of sunrise. Our iconic "lace curtain" prop was built by us and transported from our Whyalla base, 250km away, to be installed on the vast plain below Wilpena Pound, providing a surreal juxtaposition in such an isolated and stellar landscape.

Magic Moments

Our last morning saw the two of us filming absolutely alone as the sun rose, while thousands of Corella's called and wheeled overhead, and the sheep and emus walked through our set to check out what we were doing on their land. The previous night we'd completed a sunset filming on a 25-metre red sand dune with the Ranges glowing behind us – we've never been anywhere more beautiful and to be so totally alone was a forever memory.

Our Advice

If you haven't been to the Flinders, get yourself there and bring a camera. Do the hard yards to see sunrise and sunset – it's really a place like no other and everybody should experience it at least once in their lifetime.