Description
It’s been nine years since The Stetson Family released their last album, True North, which makes their new release, The Stars, If You Look Closely, nothing less than a welcome return. It’s the fourth effort thus far in this Aussie outfit’s sixteen year collective career, and features all original songs written by lead vocalist Nadine Budge, and guitarist and harmony singer John Bartholomeusz, as well as two songs that were left unfinished by founding member and mandolin player Andy Carswell, who passed away in 2016.
The Stetson Family — which currently includes Budge, Bartholomeuszhail, Colin Swan on banjo and harmonies, Greg Field on fiddle, mandolin, and harmonies, and Luke Richardson on double bass and harmonies — hail from Melbourne,
Budge says that overall, their sound is somewhat eclectic. “It doesn’t fit into any one particular genre, drawing together parts of bluegrass, Americana, and alt-country,” she suggests. “We all have broad tastes in music, and we blend aspects of all our tastes into our sound. One thing we all love is soaring harmonies, so our writing tends towards being harmony-driven.”
Aside from the occasional cover, the band tends to play all original music. The new album, The Stars, If You Look Closely, features eleven new songs, including a mixture of up-tempo tracks, ballads, and an instrumental. It was co-produced by Budge and Ern Rose, a well-respected Australian engineer and producer who’s been at the helm of many of Australia’s iconic albums over the past five decades.
