Sunburnt Country Music

A few weeks ago I interviewed Nathan Lamont, a three-time Star Maker Grand Finalist from Wagga Wagga, NSW whose popularity is growing both on streaming and as a performer, about his latest country-pop release, ‘Bigger Things’. I’ve interviewed Nathan a few times and it’s always been a great pleasure to talk to him – plus each time it seemed to be longer than the time before! Fluid conversation is never a given, but he’s always made it easy to interview him, hence why the chats get longer. 

However, there tend to be limits to what can be discussed in an interview tied to a release – we focus on the music, with good reason, even when the artist has an extraordinary story to tell. I knew Nathan did have such a story and after that ‘Bigger Things’ interview we discussed doing a much longer interview in which he could go into detail. It wasn’t necessarily an easy decision – at the start of this new interview he says he feels vulnerable even though he wants to talk – but in sharing his story he hopes to help others who may have had similar experiences.

While this chat isn’t about a specific release, it relates to music in that every artist is partly forged by their experiences, and from my perspective great artists let that happen. They don’t stand in the way of being themselves. They may hesitate at times, and wonder if they should really show everyone else who they are, but ultimately they do show us. The singing voice in particular tells us a lot. We can hear when the singer wants to truly connect, and that connection has to come from a deep place, and I heard that from the start in Nathan’s songs. 

Today is Nathan’s birthday, as he told me during the interview, and I wanted to post the interview on this day to honour the work he has done to even be in the world, let alone becoming someone who strives to create joyful experiences for others. We spoke for over two hours and every minute of that is worth your time to find out more about him. And the name of this mini series of interviews – if there turn out to be more – was one that he suggested: ‘Deep Dive’. So, I hope you find the first Deep Dive interview to be as compelling as I did, and I thank Nathan for showing up with his history and his whole heart, and for having the courage to do so.