Coby Grant is certainly no stranger to travel. Originally from Perth, the acoustic pop artist made the move to Melbourne when she was just nineteen.
Coby Grant is certainly no stranger to travel. Originally from Perth, the acoustic pop artist made the move to Melbourne when she was just nineteen. Last year she embarked on her maiden voyage overseas, playing hundreds of shows throughout Europe the US and Canada.
Now her sights are again set firmly overseas with an even bigger, indefinite tour scheduled this time. “It is daunting but I have been travelling around for my music for the last four years,” admits Coby on the challenges that lie ahead. “I moved to Melbourne from WA so I guess I’m kind of used to, you know, always having to travel around for my music. And also I’ve been an independent artist for that long too, just learning about the industry, and as I quickly realised when I first moved to Melbourne as a nineteen year old, it’s not easy and it is hard work and you’ve got to get yourself out there and you’ve got to learn the business. So it’s kind of daunting but at the same time I am used to the travel and used to living out of a suitcase and used to not really knowing what’s going to come next and I enjoy that as well because it means I get to play the shows.”
The original tour was booked on the back of her single A Song About Me that received plenty of attention, particularly in Scandinavia, thanks to it appearing on an international television commercial. Having booked that entire tour herself, this time around it proved slightly easier as Coby used the contacts and fans she made on her first trip to help her out. “Well from that tour, that was kind of, I’m just going to go over there and see how it goes, like see how the shows go,” she admits. “I booked all the venues myself so you know I was just guessing and looking at where other people were playing and I was really lucky because there was some amazing venues and all of which have invited me to come back and just from doing those shows there’s more venues that are wanting to have me play and I was able to make some musician friends, people in the industry, contacts so yeah it is capitalising on that one opportunity which I felt that I had to really.”
The singer songwriter is certainly pretty savvy when it comes to the business side of things. When it came to booking the shows for the upcoming tour Coby used every tactic she could think of to make it happen. “I also did something, I don’t know whether it’s out of the ordinary, but I actually asked the fans that I made if they could suggest places. Because of that I’m doing a few house concerts. It’s a great way to get out there – people invite thirty people over to their house and you basically do a concert in their home!”
But, just before she packs her bags and leaves our shores, Coby will again get to experience that closeness and support that comes from being a well-known part of our music scene when she tours the country one last time; a kind of goodbye of sorts. It will no doubt be a chance to hang out with her friends and fans and also a chance to thank them for their support before she heads off to the bright lights of Europe. “I find that musos in Australia are very supportive of each other,” she assures me. “I guess we all know how difficult it is.”
