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Mackenzie May is an artist from Central Queensland who, at just twenty years old, is already having a landmark year. In January she was a Toyota Star Maker Grand Finalist at the Tamworth Country Music Festival, she performed at CMC Rocks with a full band, and she has just released her debut EP, All the Little Things — a seven-track collection that represents her most substantial statement yet.
May grew up absorbing her grandparents’ record collection – Slim Dusty, George Jones, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings – and started playing guitar at eleven or twelve. Her first live performance came at thirteen, when her cousin invited her to sing at an open mic night. She sang ‘Tennessee Whiskey’, loved it, and hasn’t really stopped since. By fourteen she was playing pub gigs, her parents in tow.
All the Little Things brings together three previously released singles – ‘Little Things’, ‘Old School Love’ and ‘I’ll Take It All’ – with four new tracks, including a song about the financial realities of a music career and a deeply personal closing track written for her family following the death of her nan.
‘I wanted something that would just represent me as a person the most,’ she says.
The EP was produced by Jared Adlam, with whom May has recorded every song she has released, and who she books up to a year in advance given his busy schedule. ‘Be Careful You Fall in Love With’, written with Sarah Buckley – a collaborator she met at the Academy of Country Music – was the song she performed at the Star Maker Grand Final.
May attended the Academy of Country Music in 2023, an experience she credits with preparing her for the realities of a professional music career, from performing with a band to songwriting. Fellow graduates Mackenzie Lee and Keely Ellen have also gone on to high-profile moments this year, pointing to what was clearly a strong cohort.
All the Little Things is an impressive debut EP, showing May’s astuteness as a songwriter and her willingness to go for more: to reach deeper into herself and also be ambitious about her storytelling. It was a pleasure to chat to her in this new interview.
All the Little Things is out now.
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