“It’s pretty shocking and we’re pretty happy about it,” says guitarist Julian Abrahams. “I think any award or accolade is just a nice affirmation to what you’re doing creatively. I mean Golden Guitars, that’s amazing and that’s an awesome accolade for the country music scene in Australia, but yeah, to get a gong for a really well-known, prestigious award like an ARIA is just a really cool feeling.”
It hasn’t all been easy pickings for Mustered Courage though. As Abrahams explains, it’s been a long, slow process to gain recognition in a nation that doesn’t place high value on their chosen genre.
“I think we’ve come in a bit late to the party,” he says, “but I think there’s a revolution happening and I like that we’re a part of that scene in Australia, which is coming forth with lots of other great bands doing similar things.”
This demi-revolution is reflected in the increased number of roots music festivals that have popped up in recent years. The likes of Out On The Weekend, Jamgrass, and newcomer Dashville Skyline are bringing together artists from various facets of both local and international scenes.
“The fact that there is all those festivals that are putting on more alternatives as well as just straight ahead Americana and bluegrass bands is just a testament to show that it really can be something that is popular in this country,” says Abrahams. “A festival like Jamgrass showcases that in the applications that Jason [Taylor, festival promoter] gets. Bands of that genre and the crossover, which is so wide as well, that’s something that Australia really hasn’t captured yet. Jason is doing a really great job of showing that you can put a psychedelic rock band on after a bluegrass band.”
In the meantime, Mustered Courage have been building a solid following over in the US, visiting multiple times in recent years. “The difference between tour number one and tour number two, which were both three month tours, was quite exceptional,” Abrahams says. “The first three month tour we did was kind of spine-breaking and very disheartening at times, playing to small crowds and not many people knowing who we were. Going back for round two and getting to play such prestigious events and well-known festivals like Telluride Bluegrass Festival was just mind-blowing.”
The band’s overseas fortunes have also been helped along by their new label, country music powerhouse Lost Highway, which is part of Universal Music Group. However, it’s not all smooth sailing.
“It’s sometimes great and sometimes frustrating. We’ve gone from this rootsy, DIY band, [to a band] that’s signed to this major label, and it can be very challenging to get little things done because we have to tick a lot of boxes and the whole bureaucratic process that we’re not used to. But at the same time, they’ve opened up a lot of doors for us and given us a lot of opportunities, so it’s still very new to us but it’s good so far.”
Despite their growing success, the band are motivated to keep moving forward. As Abrahams concedes, “We’re trying to sell something that people don’t know and don’t really get just yet, but that’s all right. It’s good to be on the forefront of something that could be popular. You’ve got to take the risk right? No risk, no reward.”
BY NATHAN WOOD
