Camille Trail isn’t like other female country acts, and she’s proud of it. While other performers embrace pretty things, she doesn’t want a bar of them. It’s an approach that made her recent studio sessions with producer Shane Nicholson a little out of the box.
“I don’t like pretty things,” she confessed. “He’d play a guitar and say is that too pretty and I’d say yep, too pretty. I don’t like shiny things, I like it to be raw and vulnerable and I wanted to make my debut album a bit more of a statement.”
I’ve had her debut album, River of Sins, on repeat for the last couple of days, and I think the unconventional approach works. These songs are honest and unashamedly real. She calls it “a sit down with a whiskey kind of album,” and that’s a description I can really get behind. It’s also a country album that refuses to play with the classic tropes.
“It never really occurred to me to write about [utes and boots] because it was my everyday life,” explained the Rockhampton native. Instead she took inspiration from the classic rock, blues, and gospel she grew up on.
“I think I’ve always loved vulnerable music. There’s something really beautiful about just a piano and lyrics and space,” she said. “I’ve always loved those darker themes and I’m a big believer in what goes around comes around.”
You can dip your toe into Camille’s music with the new single “I Don’t Like You,” a track that provides a counterpoint to all those sappy songs of yearning that flood the airwaves. But I recommend just diving in and listening to River of Sins from start to finish. If you like what you hear, you can see her perform at the following shows, unless COVID spoils the party!
23 September 2021 – Oodies Café, Bundaberg (with Michael Waugh)
24 & 25 September 2021 – Outback By The Sea Festival, Karumba
2 & 3 October 2021 – Savannah in the Round, Mareeba
9 October 2021 – The Barn at Wombat Flat (with Michael Waugh)
10 October 2021 – Trinity Sessions, Adelaide (with Michael Waugh)
17 October 2021 – Lizotte’s, Newcastle (with Shane Nicholson and Michael Waugh)
22 October 2021 – Junk Bar, Brisbane
3 December 2021 – Murray Delta Juke Joint, Goolwa (with Shane Nicholson)
5 December 2021 – Trinity Sessions, Adelaide (with Shane Nicholson)
20 January 2022 – Wests Leagues, Tamworth
21 January 2022 – Wests Leagues, Tamworth (with Michael Waugh)
4 February 2022 – Railway Hotel, Macedon (with Shane Nicholson)
11 February 2022 – Factory Floor, Sydney (with Shane Nicholson)
12 February 2021 – Bowral Bowling Club, Bowral (with Shane Nicholson)
Image used with permission from Wildheart Publicity