Country radio doesn’t survive on songs alone. It survives because presenters, volunteers and loyal listeners keep turning up—and Terry Lockley has written a song for them.
Australian country singer-songwriter Terry Lockley’s latest radio single, The Country Radio Show, is a warm-hearted tribute to the people who keep country music travelling across the airwaves.
From major commercial stations to community radio programs championing independent artists, the song recognises the broadcasters and volunteers who give their time to sharing country music with listeners across Australia.
A Thank You to Country Radio
The Country Radio Show celebrates the connection between artists, broadcasters and the people listening at the other end—the truck drivers clocking up kilometres, workers travelling to and from their jobs, and anyone who still enjoys turning up the radio when a good country song comes on.
Although Terry wrote the song several years ago, its message feels particularly timely. Independent Australian artists continue to rely on country radio presenters who search out new music, give emerging voices a chance and keep local stories in circulation.
For Terry, country music has always started with storytelling. He remembers learning the words to Waltzing Matilda at school during the 1960s and picturing the billabong, the tree and the swagman beside the campfire.
Those early images eventually led him towards storytellers including Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan and Paul Kelly.
“I suppose you can find stories in all kinds of music, but for me, nothing paints a picture quite like a good country song.”
Terry Lockley
Never Too Late to Have a Go
Terry’s path into country music was anything but straightforward.
He picked up a guitar at around 21 and largely taught himself from books. While the chords came, overcoming anxiety, fear and stage fright proved far more difficult. After performing a handful of times at his local hotel, the nerves became overwhelming and Terry spent the next 30 years mostly playing and writing at home.
Then, in 2011, he heard a community radio competition searching for the next great country pub song. Terry wrote The Local, entered it and made the finals. The following year he travelled to the Tamworth Country Music Festival, performed the song—and won.
It was an enormous achievement, but the old anxiety returned so strongly that Terry decided he would never sing again.
His story could easily have ended there. Instead, another “now or never” moment arrived in 2018 when he was invited to sing The Local at his bowling club. That performance led to opening spots for local bands, sitting in for sets and eventually forming his own acoustic band.
In 2022, Terry took another unlikely step when he auditioned for The Voice. He reached the televised blind auditions and performed Old Town Road in front of Keith Urban, Jessica Mauboy and Guy Sebastian. No chair turned, but for someone who had once struggled to perform in a local pub, simply reaching that stage was a victory.
After 30 years behind the wheel of a garbage truck, Terry retired from driving in 2024. Now he is finally releasing some of the original songs that have been inside him for decades.
A Distinctly Australian Country Song
Living in Sydney’s western suburbs, Terry writes songs grounded in everyday observations, humour and good-natured storytelling. He describes his music as having a distinctly Australian feel, both lyrically and in the way it is performed.
The Country Radio Show was produced by Stewart Peters at Soundshed. Terry performs acoustic guitar and vocals, with Peters contributing electric guitars, bass and drums.
At its heart, the song is a simple and sincere thank you: to the presenters behind the microphone, the volunteers working around them, the artists sending their songs out into the world and the listeners who keep country radio playing.
Watch Terry Lockley – The Country Radio Show
Turn it up, have a listen and tap along.
