The music of Australia ranges across a broad spectrum of styles and genres. Whilst most modern trends in Australian music are based on similar trends from the United States or United Kingdom, traditional indigenous musicBlek Bala Mujik, Kev Carmody, Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter. dates back more than 60,000 years to the prehistory of Australia, and continues the ancient songlines through contemporary artists as diverse as Jimmy Little, Warumpi Band, Yothu Yindi, Tiddas, Wild Water, Christine Anu, Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, Saltwater Band, Nabarlek, Nokturnl, the Pigram Brothers, Coloured Stone.
Rock music in Australia first became popular in the 1950s , with artists including Johnny O'Keefe and topping charts around the world. This tradition was continued into the 1960s, by groups such as Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs, The Easybeats, and The Bee Gees, and the folk-rock group The Seekers. Throughout this time, Indigenous Australian music and Australian jazz remained consistently popular.
Pub rock was immensely popular in the 1980s, and the era was typified by Mental As Anything, Midnight Oil, The Angels, Cold Chisel and Icehouse. INXS and Men at Work also achieved fame worldwide, and the song "Down Under" became an unofficial anthem for Australia. Australian hip hop began in the early 1980s, primarily influenced by overseas works, but by the 1990s a distinctive local style had emerged, with groups such as the Hilltop Hoods achieving international acclaim for their work.
The 90s saw an increase in the popularity of indie rock in Australia. AC/DC and INXS continued to achieve commercial success in the United States, whilst a multitude of local bands, including Regurgitator, You Am I, Powderfinger, Silverchair and Something for Kate, were popular throughout the country. A small electronic music scene emerged around Sydney and Melbourne, with Severed Heads, Ollie Olsen's No, and Foil all peaking in the 90s.
Australian music experienced somewhat of a rock renaissance in the 2000s with groups such as The Vines, Jet, Airborne and Wolfmother charting internationally. Hilltop Hoods were the first Australian hip-hop group to reach the top of the ARIA chart.
Several artists from Australia including Keith Urban and Sherrie Austin have crossed the sea and became famous in The American country music scene in the last 10 years. They are a welcome breath of fresh air and have invigorated the country scene. We can only hope more Australians follow their lead and make their mark!
This website is designed to offer many resources to help fill a songwriters needs. This site is loaded down with resources including a thesaurus, idioms, dictionary, helpful links (apartment guides, publishers), Frequently Ask Questions (How do I get my song copyrighted?), Calendar of Events (songwriter nights, local events), an online store ( coming soon!), featured songwriters, a blog, and chat room to help connect you with other local songwriters and musicians.
We vow to stay current and to become a site that you will want to visit over and over again in the future. Of course, in order to become a great resource, we need your help. We hope that you will become active in the forums and submit artists to be profiled on the site along with venues that are friendly to singer-songwriters across the country. Again, welcome to AustraliaSongwriting.com, see you at the top of the charts!!
