Some songs arrive out of nowhere. Others feel like they’ve been waiting years for the right people to finally write them.
For Charlie’s Attic, Flowers feels like another chapter in a story that took a long time to get started.
The duo — Cheree Martin and Dave Hughes — formed Charlie’s Attic in 2016, bringing together a wide mix of country, rock, folk, blues and even classical influences. The result sits somewhere around Americana and alternative country, but the real thread running through it is the experience the pair had already built before they ever started releasing music of their own.
A long road to original music
Cheree grew up around Boorowa in country New South Wales, with country music well and truly in the blood. Her voice has been compared with the likes of Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris and Alison Krauss, while Dave’s musical path began with classical guitar before being pulled toward the Australian pub rock bands that regularly rolled through Newcastle in the 1980s and 1990s.
Together they spent years building a reputation on the Canberra music scene as polished and dependable performers. But for a long time, performing other people’s songs was where the story stopped.
That began to change around 2015 when Cheree and Dave started working on original projects and realised they had plenty of their own to say. Once the writing and recording started to click, they were left wondering why they had taken so long to have a crack at it in the first place.
From Always Near to Australian country radio
Charlie’s Attic released their debut album Always Near in 2017 and continued to build from there.
Their songwriting later picked up recognition through the Tamworth Songwriters’ Association, with Never Too Old reaching the semi-finals of the 2021 TSA Songwriters’ Awards in the Country Ballad category, while Nanna’s House reached the semi-finals in the New Songwriter category.
Singles including Misery Loves Company, Mumma and Sleepy Old Town followed, all gaining traction on Australian country radio airplay charts.
Flowers is the latest chapter
Now Charlie’s Attic return with Flowers, their latest single.
There’s something fitting about a duo with this much mileage behind them still finding new songs to bring around the campfire. Charlie’s Attic didn’t rush into writing original music. They came to it after years of listening, playing, learning and performing — and that history is part of what gives their music its character.
Flowers continues that journey, and for listeners who enjoy Australian country music with a little Americana, folk and roots woven through it, Charlie’s Attic are well worth a listen.
You can keep up with Charlie’s Attic on Facebook here:
https://www.facebook.com/charliesatticmusic
