Bush Poet • Singer-Songwriter • Guitarist • Storyteller
Billy Dettmer is a bush poet, singer-songwriter, guitarist, storyteller and contributor to Country Campfire.
Based in Frankston, Victoria, Billy has spent decades writing songs, performing music, crafting bush poetry and telling stories drawn from Australian life. Whether performing on stage, reciting a poem or sharing a quiet reflection, his work carries humour, honesty and the experiences of a life well lived.
This page brings Billy’s poems, songs, performances, stories and Country Campfire features together in one place, giving his work a permanent home beyond the fast-moving social media feed.
A Lifetime of Music and Bush Poetry
Billy’s love of music began in the 1960s, when he started playing as a seven-year-old with the Victorian Banjo Club. From those early beginnings grew a lifetime of performing, songwriting and entertaining audiences.
His love of bush poetry came through the classic Australian writers, including Banjo Paterson and Henry Lawson. Like many poets, Billy admits his first attempts were less than polished, but he kept writing and gradually found his own voice through humour, Australian characters and everyday life.
His first published poem, Ash Wednesday, appeared in People magazine in 1983. Billy believes it was later printed on tea towels by the Uniting Church to help raise funds for victims of the Ash Wednesday bushfires.
His poetry was later featured regularly on John Reid’s Poets’ Corner on ABC Saturday mornings, with seven or eight of his poems appearing in Reid’s books from the time.
Another of Billy’s poems was published by Ian “Macca” McNamara in The Song of the Thong. His poem Mummy Please Don’t Hit Me Again was read live on air by Derryn Hinch, published by the Children’s Protection Society and helped raise approximately $10,000 for the organisation.
Music, Awards and Community
Alongside his poetry, Billy built a long and varied life in Australian music.
In 1993, he won an episode of Have A Go with Johnno and Danno. That same year, his poem The Highwayman won the Banjo Paterson Award at the Cowpastures Festival.
The following year, Billy entered six original songs in the Australian Songwriters Awards. All six reached the Top 10 of their respective categories, an achievement Billy says had not happened before. He was subsequently presented with the Rudy Brandsma Award.
Billy also won Best New Talent at the Snowy River Country Music Festival.
In 1996, he began running the Frankston Guitar Festival. He also hosted a weekly music night for around twenty years, which became recognised as Australia’s longest-running weekly music night.
Across the years, Billy performed with groups including the Tough Titties Band, Scrumpy and Little Willy and the Hopeless Romantics.
Selected Achievements
- First published poem, Ash Wednesday, appeared in People magazine in 1983.
- Regularly featured on John Reid’s Poets’ Corner on ABC Radio.
- Seven or eight poems published in John Reid’s books.
- Published in Ian McNamara’s The Song of the Thong.
- Mummy Please Don’t Hit Me Again helped raise approximately $10,000 for the Children’s Protection Society.
- Winner of an episode of Have A Go with Johnno and Danno in 1993.
- Winner of the Banjo Paterson Award at the Cowpastures Festival for The Highwayman.
- Recipient of the Rudy Brandsma Award.
- Winner of Best New Talent at the Snowy River Country Music Festival.
- Founder and organiser of the Frankston Guitar Festival from 1996.
- Hosted a weekly music night for approximately twenty years.
From the Archives
Across the years, Billy Dettmer’s poetry, music, community work and ambulance career regularly appeared in Victorian newspapers and Australian publications. These clippings preserve part of that story — from his Banjo Paterson Poetry Challenge win and early country music recognition to the Frankston Guitar Festival, local performances and his work as an ambulance officer.
Newspaper clippings supplied by Billy Dettmer from his personal archive.
One of a collection of newspaper clippings from Billy Dettmer’s personal archive documenting his career in bush poetry, country music and community life. 
One of a collection of newspaper clippings from Billy Dettmer’s personal archive documenting his career in bush poetry, country music and community life. 
One of a collection of newspaper clippings from Billy Dettmer’s personal archive documenting his career in bush poetry, country music and community life. 
One of a collection of newspaper clippings from Billy Dettmer’s personal archive documenting his career in bush poetry, country music and community life. 
One of a collection of newspaper clippings from Billy Dettmer’s personal archive documenting his career in bush poetry, country music and community life. 
One of a collection of newspaper clippings from Billy Dettmer’s personal archive documenting his career in bush poetry, country music and community life. 
One of a collection of newspaper clippings from Billy Dettmer’s personal archive documenting his career in bush poetry, country music and community life. 
One of a collection of newspaper clippings from Billy Dettmer’s personal archive documenting his career in bush poetry, country music and community life. 
One of a collection of newspaper clippings from Billy Dettmer’s personal archive documenting his career in bush poetry, country music and community life. 
One of a collection of newspaper clippings from Billy Dettmer’s personal archive documenting his career in bush poetry, country music and community life. 
One of a collection of newspaper clippings from Billy Dettmer’s personal archive documenting his career in bush poetry, country music and community life. 
One of a collection of newspaper clippings from Billy Dettmer’s personal archive documenting his career in bush poetry, country music and community life.
Service, Stories and Lived Experience
Away from the stage, Billy joined Ambulance Victoria in 1983 and worked as a paramedic for almost eleven years.
Those experiences, along with the people he met throughout his life, continue to shape much of his writing. His work moves between humour, Australian characters, country life and deeply personal subjects, including trauma, mental health and life after the ambulance service.
Whether through poetry, song or storytelling, Billy writes with the authenticity of someone who has lived the stories he tells.
“There’s so much, but generally I don’t go on about it too much because it never really generated much in fame or fortune.”Billy Dettmer
That quiet approach is part of what makes Billy’s story worth preserving. His contribution has never been measured simply in fame or fortune, but in decades of poems, songs, performances, fundraising, community involvement and stories shared with Australian audiences.
Follow Billy Dettmer Online
Billy Dettmer on Country Campfire
Billy’s Country Campfire collection brings together his bush poetry recitals and other contributions as they are published.
More of Billy’s poems, songs, stories and performances will be added to this page over time.
Part of The Country Campfire Legends Project
Billy Dettmer is recognised as part of the Country Campfire Legends Project, preserving the poems, songs, stories, performances and contributions of Australians helping keep country culture alive for future generations.
Poems, recitals, photographs, stories, songs and original works remain the property of their original creator and are shared by Country Campfire with permission.