Still Rockin' It - Cheryl Lee
Join Cheryl Lee That Radio Chick on Still Rockin' It for news, reviews and interviews with some of our favourite Australian musicians.
What are they up to at the moment? Let's find out .......
Still Rockin' It - Cheryl Lee
What have The Buckleys been up to lately? OR The four children of The Radiators' Mick Buckley are showing us how it's done!!
Join Cheryl Lee - That Radio Chick on STILL ROCKIN' IT for news, reviews, music and interviews with some of our favourite Australian musicians
Sarah Buckley's effervescent energy radiates through every moment of our conversation about The Buckleys, the dynamic sibling band that's breathing fresh life into Australian country music. Growing up in the Byron hinterland with a father who drummed for The Radiators before exploring big band, rockabilly, and boogie-woogie piano, music was always destined to be their path.
"Dad was always playing," Sarah reminisces, explaining how their father deliberately steered them toward country music as a more wholesome alternative to the rock world he knew. This musical upbringing included learning guitar from James T of Canned Heat fame and performing at local festivals from a young age. The journey from competing in the BluesFest busking competition as children to returning as official performers years later represents a full-circle moment that clearly still resonates with Sarah.
The conversation takes an exciting turn when Sarah details her songwriting collaboration with Alexander Lasker from Kingswood. Unlike the structured Nashville writing sessions she was accustomed to, their creative process flowed organically into the early morning hours after breaks for dinner and drinks. This rock and roll approach yielded their previous single "See You Folks Again" and their new release "What Were Your Dreams Made Of" during one particularly inspired night. The latter track showcases Sarah's powerful vocals alongside a fierce mandolin solo in what she describes as "a high energy anthem built for dance floors, festival stages, and country playlists alike."
The family dynamic adds another fascinating layer to The Buckleys' story. Recently, youngest brother Dylan has joined the band after earning his stripes and completing his "band probation," as Sarah jokingly puts it. When asked about playing with siblings, she candidly admits it's "a mixed bag" with moments that are "explosive and very short" before everyone moves on professionally.
This authenticity extends to their annual "Buckleys and Friends" jam session at the Tamworth Country Music Festival, where they strip back to the spontaneous energy of their musical upbringing.
Discover the infectious blend of honky-tonk heart and rockabilly rebellion that's made The Buckleys one of Australia's most exciting young bands. From their #1 debut single to festival stages across two continents, they're proving country music's resurgence is in capable hands. Give their new single a listen and experience pure Buckley magic for yourself!
What have The Buckleys been up to lately? Let's find out!
Get out when you can, support local music and I'll see you down the front!!
Visit: ThatRadioChick.com.au
That Radio Chick, cheryl Lee here. Welcome to the Still Rockin it podcast, where we'll have music news, reviews and interviews with some of our favourite Australian musicians and artists. The Buckleys have firmly established themselves as one of Australia's most exciting young bands and dynamic live performers, known for their infectious charm and consistently fresh take on country music, which has seen them achieve five top five charting singles. Consisting of siblings, Sarah Grace, Molly, Lachlan and now the youngest Buckley Dylan, who has taken over drumming duties from dad Mick Buckley of Radiators, the band have taken their electrifying show to stages across Australia and the US, from Blues Fest to Tamworth, to Mundi Mundi, the Gimpy Muster, Nashville's iconic Bluebird Cafe and Music City Roots, and much, much more. Today we're lucky enough to catch up with Sarah to chat about the great new single. To catch up on podcasts from other favourite artists, simply go to thatradiochick. com. au.
Cheryl Lee:You're with Cheryl Lee that Radio Chick and I'd like to welcome into our Zoom room today Sarah Buckley from the Buckleys. Thanks so much for having me. Oh, thank you for coming and spending some time with us and sharing some of your exciting news. The first time I saw you guys perform, my hubby and I rode the Harley to Blues Fest from Adelaide to Blues Fest to see you Wow that's amazing.
Sarah Buckley:Far out, what a story. That's very cool. Yeah, Blues Fest one of my favourite shows we've played, so that's a good one.
Cheryl Lee:It was our first Blues Fest, so have you done it before then?
Sarah Buckley:I had done the Blues Fest busking competition a couple of times growing up because we're from the Byron hinterland. So I had done the busking competition back when I was maybe 11 years old by myself, didn't win, but got invited to come and play at the festival on the busking stage. And then a year or two after that we went in as the Buckleys to the busking competition as well. We didn't win, but we got invited to play on the busking stage. So, yeah, that was awesome. And then, yeah, that year was the first year that we had been on the proper official lineup, so huge milestone for us. So we were yeah, we're very, very excited about. It was a big show.
Cheryl Lee:It was awesome. We were at the front and we absolutely blew having an eye away. We thought these guys are great oh man, thank you.
Sarah Buckley:You actually do look a little bit familiar. I will say we put a lot of work into that show and we're like we're gonna make this one, like you know, one of the best you know we've ever played and did a lot of work and a lot of rehearsing in the lead up and had some really special moments in that set. We did this like tribute to Chris Murphy, our former manager, who passed away. His favorite song was With a Little Help from my Friends, so I think we ended the show on that, the Joe Cocker version, with the horn section and some backup singers. It was like just like one of the best moments ever that I've had on stage. And, yeah, such an amazing time we had because the year before we actually rode to Blues Fest 2021.
Cheryl Lee:I don't know if you guys were due to play on that one, but we got within half an hour. We were half an hour away and remember it got COVID cancelled, oh you're kidding that year?
Sarah Buckley:Oh no, actually we were booked on that festival. So frustrating. Yeah, we were booked on that one. Oh damn that sucked.
Cheryl Lee:We knew we could do it then. So when it came about, we just went again. True, it was a good little test Warm up. I actually saw your dad in the crowd and I gave him my card and I said I'd like to interview your kids. Oh, really, it happened overnight, but it's now happened Finally. Yeah, the long way around.
Sarah Buckley:That's awesome.
Cheryl Lee:Yeah, it's so good. Now, one of the questions I normally ask artists is you know, is music in their DNA and, of course, Dad was a drummer in the Radiators from 84 to 87, so I guess he's been a massive influence on you guys.
Sarah Buckley:Yeah, definitely huge. Yeah, we grew up listening to so much music just because we were around it, going to gigs. Dad was always playing yeah, obviously he was in the rads throughout the 80s but then since then was in like a big band, like a 12-piece big band, doing like swing and rock. It was in a rockabilly band then now it's like a piano player doing like lots of like boogie woogie and honky tonk piano. So we've had like so much music around us and so many musicians like I learned how to play guitar and like the blues from a guy called James T who played in Canned Heat and like Canned Heat played at Woodstock back in the 60s and yeah, Going Up The Country was their big song and yeah, that was like James was such a big influence on me and yeah, so many great musos around, it was inevitable, wasn't it? Some would say, yeah, totally hard not to fall in love with it.
Cheryl Lee:I don't know if it's just me, but do you think country's having this real resurgence at the moment?
Sarah Buckley:Definitely, yeah, huge in a huge way. I think it's so exciting. I grew up when no one, especially like no one my age likes or listen to country music. It was like you had to go to the 10 months country music festival to find into it. People were like at school, be like, oh, you listen to country, um, very cool. So it's um, yeah, it's so funny to see it come back around like that where did the passion for country music come from?
Sarah Buckley:from you, well, well like I said, we grew up listening to like every genre under the sun. But I think dad especially really like wanted us to be influenced by country music as he came from like the rock and roll industry, which is a bit, you know, hardcore sex, drugs and rock and roll. So when his kids were growing up he was like let's get them into country music. It seems a bit more wholesome Little, did he know, not too far from rock and roll. I would say that was a big reason why. Yeah, we got into country through that influence.
Cheryl Lee:Obviously, you've stayed with it, so you guys must love it.
Sarah Buckley:Yeah, oh, I love country music. It truly is. It feels like home. You know, when we listen to it We've got a new single to talk about.
Cheryl Lee:But before we do that, I noticed here that you wrote a song with Alex Laska Alexander.
Sarah Buckley:Lasker. Yeah, so Kingswood we did a bunch of touring with Kingswood last year and yeah like to get on so well with the boys. They're like brothers to us at this stage. Yeah, me and Al started writing so I went to melbourne and we wrote a bunch of new songs and then he ended up producing them as well.
Sarah Buckley:So so exciting, such a different way of recording than what I'd been and writing that what I'd been used to like I was always very much part of. Like the nashville scene, which I love as well. But like writing with al was like in nashville. It's kind of more like you start at nine o'clock and then finish the first session at one and then go to like another session until 5 30 and then kind of clock off, whereas Al was like would get into the studio at like three o'clock, write a bit of a song and go out for dinner and then come back to the studio and like go back out, have some drinks and come back like four in the morning. So it was like rock and roll, yeah, yeah, very much. So, yeah, actually it was funny. The song, our previous single, see you folks again and what were your dreams made of our new single they were both written in the same night.
Cheryl Lee:We wrote a third song that night as well, but I don't know if that one will ever be heard it's just coincidental because I met alex in the zoom room last tuesday, so it's fine, I get to speak to you both within a week's time.
Sarah Buckley:Yes, that's classic. Yeah, well, we just saw the boys the day before yesterday. They just played Gimpy Master, which we just played as well. Yeah, I got to catch up with them there, which was great. You are listening to Still Rockin it, the podcast with Cheryl Lee.
Cheryl Lee:So we'll save the new song until a little bit later. Let's have the song Sarah, co-wrote with last week's Zoom Room guest, Alexander Luska from Kingswood. See You Folks Again. And then we're back to speak some more to the effervescent young Sarah Buckley from the Buckleys.
Cheryl Lee:After the Gimpy Master, you've got Out Back by the Sea, and then Tamworth, tamworth being a big equal each year. Yeah, Tamworth.
Sarah Buckley:So we actually have Groundwater Country Music Festival as well, which is coming up in I think it's October, so that'll be really fun. We've never played that one. And then, yeah, and then we go to Tamworth Country Music Festival, which we do every year. That's like our annual family holiday and we do a Buckley's and Friends show. We get Buckley's and Friends show, we get like all of our mates and just yeah, we were like we kind of made the decision. We've always done that kind of jam session show.
Sarah Buckley:But yeah, we were kind of like our favorite part of Tamworth is the music one, but also just all of our mates are there and getting to catch up with all our friends and have a good time. And so we kind of bring it back to just like that old I don't know the way we kind of grew up in, like pubs and jams and things like that. It's like such a great way to play music, which is very different from like a fully produced show, which we also love doing on big festival stages, but kind of stripping it back to just like a good old fashioned, you know, rowdy, loose jam. See what happens, you don't really know where it's going to end up.
Cheryl Lee:Yeah, but yeah, it's a very special time and place when you get to do that, I feel like. Is there any dates to come to our little town soon in Adelaide?
Sarah Buckley:I would love to. Molly is actually her boyfriend is from Adelaide and so they have a bunch of friends, his family, up there, so it's been spoken about. Definitely, yeah, I'd love to come to Adelaide. I've never been there. I want to come to the wineries they spoken about. Definitely, yeah, I'd love to come to adelaide.
Cheryl Lee:I've never been there. I want to come to the wineries. They look great, we're famous. I've heard great things, so I'm keen to come for a gig and the winery tour. Brand new song what were your dreams made of? Had a nice listen to that, love it. Oh. Thank you so much. So the four siblings now play in the. But which wasn't just three at?
Sarah Buckley:yes oh, you're right. Yeah, yeah, just the three of us. It's always it's been so far. Well, actually, originally dad was the drummer and we had the buckley's family band was the first iteration a long time ago and then dad sacked himself too difficult to work with, apparently. But then we made a trio for the most part and then our little brother has always been a young rat bag. He, when he was like 16, 15, started really like picking up the drums, always played drums and played music. Oh, yeah, actually he, yeah, he always played drums. But he really kind of got into it, wanted to really do it properly and potentially join the band, so earned his stripes and then we put him on, we put him on band probation for a while, but I don't know, work experience boy. Yeah, exactly, there we go. So, yeah, and then when he turned 18, we're like, okay, probably time to let him in the band properly. Yeah, exactly, join the family mafia. Do you think you'll keep him? Yeah, yeah, I think so. Yeah, he's pretty good, it's cheap too.
Cheryl Lee:Can't get rid of him now anyway, exactly, yeah. Another thing that really piqued my interest that I hadn't known was that there's an award-winning doco on your band's Meteoric Rise, produced by Oscar-winning producer christopher jenkins, directed by grant james, and it's called take it as it comes. How can we watch that?
Sarah Buckley:I know it would be so good. It's kind of caught up in like it's kind of boring stuff but because it's owned by our previous record label like kind of not out officially to the public. We went out to some film festivals, which was really cool, but it's not. Yeah, I need to talk to them and see if we can maybe get the rights to it or something so we can put it out. There's another little documentary that Chris made. It's so funny.
Sarah Buckley:We're like it's so weird having these documentaries about us, especially because we're so new, like we're not new to the industry. We've been in it for a long time. We've been quite young. Why anyone would want to make a documentary on us is very strange. But Chris Murphy, our previous manager, he uh made another documentary which is on youtube and that's called meet the buckley's when we first kind of got signed and covers the first um record. So you can look at that one, meet the buckley's. It's on our youtube channel. Three shorts, short episodes, but then there's the full length one there and that's really good too. But yeah, the take it as it comes. One when we did our EP over in the US. But hopefully one day it comes out. That would be really cool.
Cheryl Lee:In 2019, your debut single off your debut album, daydream, went to Australian number one on the country radio. Well done, fantastic, or like a debut single with a rocket.
Sarah Buckley:Totally Pretty. Yeah, no one was expecting that. When we put it out, we, yeah, the record label everything everyone was like what's going on here? So, yeah, it was very cool that that happened, yeah, so quickly. I mean, that was our debut single after signing with our like our first major label deal with petrol records and universal music. We had previously had released other music and other songs, but that was like the official, you know big starter.
Cheryl Lee:So yeah, it was pretty wild, that's for sure still rocking the podcast with that radio chick cheryl lee. Let's have the title track from that debut album from 2020 that went to number one with a rocket day dream. And then we're back to say goodbye to sarah from the buckley's.
Cheryl Lee:What is this new single about?
Sarah Buckley:Well, I wrote this song. It was kind of inspired. It was a festival hanging out with this guy and I think he was kind of. Some people, I think, have different ideas before they maybe spend time with you or meet you properly, as to like what you would be like, and me and Molly definitely can hold our own when it comes to, yeah, having a good time.
Cheryl Lee:'ve heard that yeah.
Sarah Buckley:I won't say I drank him under the table, but maybe I did. So this song is kind of inspired in a funny way about that. Yeah, it's just yeah.
Cheryl Lee:Yeah, it's a good little boogie and kind of like a light-hearted, I would say anthem like a good anthem yeah, yeah, exactly, and another one, that of yours, that I really liked, that I play on the radio all the time, by the way, is your song Woodstock 69. Yeah, oh, thank you so much.
Sarah Buckley:Yeah, that's a, that's an oldie kind of it's uh, yeah, debut record that was yeah, I wrote that with some friends over in Nashville and it's a good reminiscent song on. Yeah, imagine being at Woodstock.
Cheryl Lee:God I know oh yeah, I don't think there's been anything like it really ever, since it's a blues fest, of course I was gonna say blues fest is the closest.
Sarah Buckley:Yeah, I love Blues Fest. Yeah, it has that kind of similar, real like real good music and you know a lot of soul.
Cheryl Lee:Yeah, I've got five children, so I can just imagine is it tricky playing with your siblings and those four of you, or do you? You know know, get along like house on board yeah, it's a mixed bag.
Sarah Buckley:No, most of the time it's like we definitely get on and we have a great time. I love touring with the family. There's definitely always moments like any sibling yeah, any siblings we are.
Cheryl Lee:Yeah, it's usually very explosive and very short and then everyone moves on five minutes later of course, if you have to go on stage, well, you just, you're professional and you go on stage, and then you exactly over their head later exactly yeah, we've got to stay professional as much as we can I just couldn't imagine my phone doing that, so I take my hat off to you.
Cheryl Lee:That is, oh god, thank you. No, I agree with it. But what a compliment is this for your documentary that we can't see yet won a gold award at the independent short awards in la. Did you know?
Sarah Buckley:that I do. That's pretty crazy.
Cheryl Lee:Yeah, I know that's like wild and you had dedicated that doco to the chairman of Petrol Records, who was the long-time manager of INXS and signed you in 2019, who we sadly lost in 2021, aged only 66. He said Sarah is one of the best songwriters to come out of Australia ever.
Sarah Buckley:oh my god, oh, this is such a wild quote.
Cheryl Lee:Yeah, gosh, yeah that's a huge accolade, a huge compliment yeah, pretty an amazing thing to say. Gotta try and live up to that one that better be good from now on, and I just love your style of songwriting. It's oh, thank you. Yeah, I love playing on the radio. I've played it a lot. I've played it a lot. I can't wait to start playing what Were Your Dreams Made Of, and we can't wait to come to our little town and we can see you sing it live.
Sarah Buckley:Yes, absolutely, count me in. I'm going to start working on that ASAP. Yeah, thank you so much. Thanks for all the support as well.
Cheryl Lee:It means a lot. Thank you, it's a pleasure, and thank you for spending some time with us chatting about everything the Buckleys today.
Sarah Buckley:Thank you Anytime. Yeah, hopefully I'll see you in Adelaide soon or somewhere around the Traps otherwise.
Cheryl Lee:Well, we will get over to Tamworth as well. That's on the bucket list too. Have you guys ever done Rock the Boat or the Country?
Sarah Buckley:Dad goes on Rock the Boat all the time. I think he's on it this year as well. Yeah, yeah, dad's on it every year we do. We've done Cruising Country a couple of times, which is the country one, but yeah, haven't done Rock the Boat yet.
Cheryl Lee:That would be awesome though year because we can't do everything, even as much as you'd like to. Yeah, yeah, totally, we might see him next year. Had you seen him on another one before? When did we go? The year that Barnsey was sick, 2023, and we also went in 2015 when Barnsey played.
Sarah Buckley:I'm pretty sure he was there.
Cheryl Lee:It's pretty. You know long to remember.
Sarah Buckley:Yeah, I can vouch for that. Yeah, totally, who knows what happened?
Cheryl Lee:We might even see you there, Sarah. Was there anything else that you particularly wanted to touch on before we say goodbye?
Sarah Buckley:No, in particular. No, I think that was great. It was a great little chat. Thank you so much.
Cheryl Lee:I'll let you get on with your day chat. Thank you so much.
Sarah Buckley:I'll let you get on with your day and again, thanks for your time. Thanks so much. You are listening to still rocking it the podcast with cheryl lee here it is, as promised.
Cheryl Lee:The new single what were your dreams made of? An infectious cocktail of honky-tonk, heart, rockabilly, rebellion and pure buckley magic. The track is a high energy anthem built for dance floors, festival stages and country playlists alike. Front woman Sarah Buckley delivers powerhouse velvet, smooth vocals alongside a fierce mandolin solo that refuses to be ignored.
Cheryl Lee:You're with Cheryl Lee, that radio chick. Thank you so much for joining me on the Still Rockin it podcast. Hope to catch you again next time. Get out when you can support Aussie music and I'll see you down the front.