Today marks 10 years since my first album Heartwood came out. My firstborn. It has done many great things and weathered many storms. A decade is a milestone for a multitude of reasons but in this instance it is important because it means that the last vestiges of a short-lived record contract are now shed.

This album was actually released in two iterations. The first came out 11 years ago in August of 2013 and was an independent release with a different cover and a few different songs. It was album of the week in the Courier Mail (thanks to my friend Brennie placing it in the hands of Noel Mengel) and it enabled me to play my first Woodford Folk Festival and meet many people who are now dear friends.

At that time, streaming was not yet here, digital sales were still small (and much more profitable) and most people still bought CDs. Halcyon days! I’d been working in a job for about eight years to save up enough to make and tour Heartwood. It might have been a house deposit but I preferred spending it that way.

Footstomp Records (at the time linked to Warner Music Australia) came to me with a proposition to re-release this album and give it its proper time in the sun. So a year later, August 15th 2014, it was re-released with a new cover and a few songs replaced with new ones. This was an unexpected opportunity but I went with it. I never even considered playing in that field but the reality of funding a second record as a touring artist was dawning on me and the contract I signed allowed for a second release.

There were great benefits to being on a label - they helped with publicity and more gig opportunities came my way including the chance to showcase at CMJ Music Marathon in New York. They also covered the cost of making physical copies which ultimately I had to pay back by purchasing LPs and CDs from them at a set rate. This is pretty normal but it was tricky because it meant that I could often not afford to carry much merch with me and the profit margin was greatly decreased compared to when I was independent. Pertinent to this ten-year milestone is that now I can make my own physical copies (I haven’t been able to order copies from the label in years.) Also I should finally be able to make it available for streaming around the world and on places like Instagram which to date has not been possible.

Ultimately though, the record did not do what the label hoped which was to break into the rarified air of triple j. I was told my music was “too mature” for the triple j audience and though I believe that is a gross underestimation of their listeners I had to agree that it simply didn’t fit in there. This was the litmus test for whether more money ought to be invested by the label, and a cash cow my music was not.

The second release on the record contract was just an option so in the end I didn’t get to make a second record with the label. None of the songs I presented really fit the bill so after waiting about a year they cut me loose. It was liberating but after all that time in waiting and without shows I was pretty much broke. The saga of making my second album Lifeblood begins there but that is a story for another time. Suffice to say it took me five years to regain the confidence in my songwriting and get the scratch together to make another record, with several false starts and setbacks along the way (then I released it and the jaws of COVID came crashing down…)

I’m happy now to be entirely independent and to be making and releasing recordings on my own terms. My goal is to release much more of what I write, which means perhaps more humble studio productions but the integrity of the songs is what’s most important. There’s a sister album to Rainbows that is waiting in the wings and heaps of new material coming together for the next projects. I’ll be releasing something soon to mark ten years of Heartwood as well.

I lost a bit of time but gratefully I didn’t lose the song. I am thankful to anyone who has taken a moment to listen to Heartwood or any of my other music - there’s much more to come.