Keeping a sense of place at heart

COUNTRY singer-songwriter Sara Storer is enjoying some peace after her husband and kids have departed for the Darwin Show.

“I’ve come down with the flu, but apart from that I’m living the dream — it’s sooo quiet,” the mother of four boys said from her home in Humpty Doo.

Raised in the small town of Robinvale, Victoria, Storer reckons she’s lived in enough places across this wide brown land to rival the 1959 Geoff Mack classic, I’ve Been Everywhere Man.

“I can fill that song with the number of places I’ve physically moved to,” she said.

“I’ve performed it, I didn’t even add extra towns — I had more than enough.”

Storer has an impressive 22 Golden Guitar Awards and her eighth solo album, Worth Your Love, continues her tradition of heartfelt storytelling.

The ARIA Award-winner is also an accomplished artist and has an exhibition in Brisbane the night before her Byron show.

“My brain just doesn’t stop. I have to tell it in the middle of the night to shut up,” she said.

“I love painting, and it takes up a lot of my time.

“I’m doing a painting for each song on the new album, and I’m very excited. I’m about to run out and work on one now.”

The singer is dismayed at what she feels is a pervasive Americanisation of Australian country music.

“I see a big shift, like the changing of the guard, and there’s a real American influence which will soon starve us of our own storytelling,” Storer said.

“As we get older, we crave our own stories about the real world, and I hope the young ‘uns keep Australian storytelling as alive and as contemporary as possible.

“I’m always trying to find the song that tells a story about this wonderful place that will move you, that you can relate to or just get lost in.

“We won’t have enough of those storytellers going down the line, so I want to encourage young kids to keep writing and not be embarrassed to keep Australian contemporary storytelling alive.”

Storer plays the Ballina RSL on August 30.

For tickets, visit ballinarsl.com.au/event/sara-storer