Callum and Jackson McPartlane are 16-year-old twin brothers from the Mornington Peninsula with Gunditjmara heritage, and together they are Bo’Ness, with the band name derived from their maternal grandmother’s home town in Scotland. In 2019 they graduated from the CMAA Academy of Country Music, where they studied with artists such as They are also graduates of the 2019 CMAA Academy of Country Music where they studied with artists such as Fanny Lumsden, Lyn Bowtell and Amber Lawrence.
Bo’Ness recently released their debut single, ‘We Don’t Need This Town’, and reached number 10 on the iTunes Country Chart and the top 100 on the overall chart. This success is not surprising, given the calibre of the song and it’s uncompromising approach to its subject matter.
Written with Golden Guitar winner Lachlan Bryan, it describes the twins’ escape from domestic violence with their mother and younger brother – there are no allusions or metaphors in the song, nor is there regret or recrimination. The message is simple: they need to leave their town for a better life.
The song was produced by Matt Fell, while family friend Sam Hawksley played guitars on this track and the soon-to-be released ‘Fight Me’.
‘Sam has been a big part of our lives from a young age and was teaching us guitar from the start,’ says Jackson. ‘It was really great to have Sam play on the tracks because of that connection and it was Sam and Adam [Brand, the twins’ godfather] who were the ones who were helping us through those times that the single is written about.’
The brothers are also Kind Is Cool ambassadors and ‘We Don’t Need This Town’ is endorsed by 1800-Respect.
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