What has Michael Paynter been up to lately? OR From Jesus to John Farnham

Join Cheryl Lee - That Radio Chick on STILL ROCKIN' IT for news, reviews, music and interviews with some of our favourite Australian musicians

The equipment in the background tell part of the story—but the rest comes from grit, range, and an instinct for what makes a song fit like your favorite jeans. 

We sit with Michael Paynter to chart the path from a kid at the piano to a singer-guitarist trusted by Jimmy Barnes, performing on the AFL Grand Final stage with Robbie Williams, and now the lead stepping into John Farnham’s legacy with Whispering Jack - The John Farnham Musical. 

Michael opens up about the voice behind the accolades—why big notes are less important than honest phrasing, how Jesus Christ Superstar pushed him to the edge in the best way, and why he rates Miley Cyrus among the great modern vocalists. We talk shop, but also about the quiet work: mixing on a laptop until time to take the stage, dialing back the studio grind when the road gets heavy, and protecting the joy that fuels a long career. 

The Great Australian Songbook national tour is built for discovery. No fixed setlist. Different guests each show. Beloved classics chosen for feel, not obligation—yes, that means he’s happy to skip Khe Sanh and Great Southern Land when the moment calls for a different mood.

Away from the lights, Michael talks about parenting three young daughters, learning piano for the mind as much as the music, and modeling what it takes to turn a wild passion into real work.

Join us for a warm conversation that blends behind-the-scenes stories with practical wisdom for musicians and fans. 

If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a friend who loves Aussie music, and leave a quick review to help others discover it.

What has Michael Paynter 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

Transcript

Welcome And Gear Talk

Cheryl Lee 0:34

I'm so pleased to welcome into our Zoom room today, Michael Painter. Thank you for joining us, Michael.

Michael Paynter 0:55

Oh, thank you for having me. Looks like you've got more guitars behind you than I have behind me. So I think you've won that battle, Cheryl.

Cheryl Lee 1:01

You've got a lot of other expensive equipment there.

Michael Paynter 1:04

Oh, yes. This is uh this is where the bills are paid in here. So I've been taking a break for some from some mixing and uh to come and chat to you today.

Cheryl Lee 1:11

That's where all the action happens. Well, we've got some really, really exciting news. You're coming to our town, to our fringe, which we'll talk about in a minute. But I hope you don't mind. I wanted to ask you a couple of quick questions if I can.

Michael Paynter 1:24

Go for it. Go for it.

Cheryl Lee 1:25

Where did all this amazing talent come from? Is it a family trait?

Origins Of A Voice

Michael Paynter 1:30

That's a very hard one to answer. My parents are musical, they're not professionals by any chance, but they do love to sing. My mum's always played piano and sort of put me into piano when I was about five or six, which I just inflicted upon my firstborn as well. So the cycle continues. But yeah, just grew up singing and and just always sort of had a I would guess a proclivity to it naturally, and just sort of ended up developing a passion and following it, and here we are 35, 40 years later.

Cheryl Lee 1:57

I um have heard you in Jesus Christ Superstar. That is one hell of a voice. When did you realize you had a voice like that?

Michael Paynter 2:06

Thank you. Similar to the first question, I don't really know how you know when. It's just sort of one of those things that sort of ends up manifesting itself in your life, I guess, just sort of appearing. But yeah, I think when you're young, you know, you work out that you can sort of sing along to the songs you're hearing. And because I played piano, I think I had pretty good sort of relative pitch pretty, pretty early. So you sort of work out that you sound like you're singing in tune with what you're hearing, and then once your balls drop and you stop being able to sing like a girl, and you you can continue to sing along with girls, you go, Oh, that's you know, I prefer to sing along with women than I did with men. If I sung along with Elvis or or something like that, I'll I would sing up the octave along with the with the record. So yeah, it's just something that seems to have been there always, and it's just something I've I've just always sort of found joy in and have leaned into developing.

Cheryl Lee 2:53

There's one particular note in Jesus Christ Superstar, which I think is the most amazing note I've ever heard. Anybody sing anywhere.

Michael Paynter 3:04

I think just go listen to some Celine Dion and you'll you'll you'll realize how how mid that note actually is, but I appreciate it.

Cheryl Lee 3:11

You're you're being too modest. Now I have um actually seen you perform. I was just having a quick look to see if I could count it up, but I saw you uh at the Barossa Arts Centre with Barnesy on the hell of a time tour.

Speaker 2 3:25

Yep.

Cheryl Lee 3:25

I took my three daughters over to Sydney because didn't come to Adelaide to see you with my favourite Barnes, Mahalia. Yes, great. Jesus Christ Super Star congratulations on that, by the way. That was an amazing interpretation of the stage play, and it it really did it justice, but had its own life.

Jesus Christ Superstar Reflections

Michael Paynter 3:45

Thank you. I think it's a wonderful musical, and it was a it was an honor to be asked to do it. It took every single last scrap of my soul to be able to do it, and by the end I was a complete shell of a human, but but definitely worth it.

Cheryl Lee 3:57

It certainly will go down in history. And then I've seen you on JB's 40th anniversary of his working class man tour as well. We went to the opening night in Geelong. Uh we saw you at Peter Lehman Winery here in South Australia. Yep. And we're riding the Harley over in April to see you again at Rod Laver Arena.

Michael Paynter 4:18

There you go, you follow me around the country. That's lovely.

Cheryl Lee 4:20

I'm not stalking you, Michael.

Michael Paynter 4:22

No, no, that's great. That's I we love we love people like you. They they they keep the lights on and keep the word being spread. So it's awesome.

Cheryl Lee 4:29

Well, maybe I'm stalking you a little bit. Yeah, that's fine. You have got lots of great news. It's all happening from Jimmy to Jesus to John and Farnham. Another couple of things I hadn't realized and I'd like to congratulate you on 2022, ARIA Award for Best Country Album. And you've won two golden guitars.

Michael Paynter 4:48

I have? Yes. I've got I've got my ARIA behind me here, sort of keeps on the shelf reminding me of what can be achieved. Yeah, no, it's I look I've I've been very lucky to to have a long and varied and and fulfilling career so far. And I like to think that I'm sort of only midway through. So, you know, the the idea of of what's still to come is very exciting, and you know, it's the greatest job in the world. And I count myself very, very, very lucky every day that I get to do it.

Cheryl Lee 5:12

I also love Miley Cyrus, as I said earlier.

Michael Paynter 5:14

I've got three daughters, so I have three daughters too, so probably similarly exhausted. So there you go. That was wonderful. Yeah, she's she's a very kind, very kind human, very deeply genuine, deeply real, really herself, you know, no airs and graces about her at all. And she's she's a wonderful singer. Uh, one of the things about Miley that I love I love saying every time I'm asked about this is she's she's got one of truly one of the great singing voices, you know. And obviously, artistic choices and and happenstance for her in her career has meant that it's probably not the thing that she's known for. But if you just go and have a look at sort of give a Google search of her singing If It Makes You Happy by Cheryl Crow on YouTube, and you'll find a couple of live versions of her singing that, and that's probably all the proof you'll need to hear how good of a singer she is. So, yeah, being able to watch her her work a stadium every night, you know, just one of the many times when I've been able to be close to some greats and and watch and learn and try to take on as much via osmosis as I can.

Cheryl Lee 6:10

We watch her grow up, you know, through her Hannah Montana phase to now, and you have no argument with me. I know she is an amazing voice as well. Another favorite of mine, lucky bugger, you performed with Robbie Williams and did the AFL grand final.

Touring With Jimmy Barnes And Big Stages

Michael Paynter 6:27

That big performance that he did at the grand final. That was I was in the band for that, which was which was awesome, playing guitar and sort of living the dream up on stage. It was also the day that my team, my team won that day. So I got a I got a free ticket to the grand final, and I was literally leaning over the boundary line fence where the umpires run out the whole day and and um yeah, got to play with one of the biggest pop stars of all time and and watched my team take home the cup. So that was a very, very good day in my life for sure.

Cheryl Lee 6:51

Winning!

Michael Paynter 6:52

Yes, definitely.

Cheryl Lee 6:52

Eventually, you had a new EP out, the Great Australian Songbook Live Vol 1, and you are touring it nationally. Yes. Uh started already. You're going everywhere, man.

Michael Paynter 7:04

Yeah, we've only just started, really. We just had the first one in Perth. That was like one that was added at the last minute. So technically, Adelaide was meant to be the first starter of the tour. But yeah, it was a great way to start. It was a great night, and people seemed to really enjoy it. So I think that it just filled me with confidence that it's going to be a show and a product that I'm I'm really proud of and and and can't wait to take around the country.

Cheryl Lee 7:23

Well, we can't wait to see you. You're doing double duty this day on uh Wednesday, the 4th of March. You've got two shows at our garden at the fringe. Yes, 6 30 and 9 p.m. Yep. We can get our tickets from Michael Painter, which is P-A-Y-N-T-E-R.com.

Michael Paynter 7:42

That's it.

Cheryl Lee 7:43

Or FringeTix. Get onto the Google- ometer

Michael Paynter 7:45

There's not many left. I know the first one's sold out. I think the second one has like about 30 or 40 tickets left. So if you if you want to get them, you should get in pretty quick.

Cheryl Lee 7:53

Adelaideans, don't be slow or you will miss out. Any chance of coming back sometime later in the tour? Another visit?

Michael Paynter 8:02

I think we might have run out of time this year on this tour. I think uh we started with eight shows, we've ended up with like 23, so it's really got quite out of hand. So I'm not sure I have many weekends left in my year, but I'll definitely back be back to Adelaide and obviously coming back with with the other bands I play with as well. And I also love my favourite restaurant in the country is on Hindley Street. So every time I come to Adelaide, I love an excuse to go to Yianni's on Hindley and get a big box of charcoal souvelaki meat. So you don't need to convince me to come back to Adelaide, that's for damn sure.

Cheryl Lee 8:30

We really look forward to that. I'll see you down the front on Wednesday. Now, the other news is that you have been cast to play the legendary John Farnham in Sydney's theatre company world premiere production of Whispering Jack, the John Farnum musical. Congratulations.

Michael Paynter 8:49

Thank you very much. Yeah, it's a big honor. And you know, like I I got to step into, you know, one of the oldest musicals that in existence. Well, I'm not sure about that actually, but it's a very old, it's a very old musical. I can't, I don't know enough about theatre to go out with that level of fact. But something from the 70s, you know, that's been around for, you know, sort of 40, 50 years.

Cheryl Lee 9:06

And it's a very old story.

Michael Paynter 9:08

A very old story, yes. The oldest story on earth, probably. But uh yeah, and then from that to sort of a show which doesn't even exist yet, so it hasn't even been created. So to be a part of jumping into a a decades generational legacy type show, and then to also create something new and be a part of uh the genesis of a new work. It's kind of two opposing sides of the theatre coin. And yeah, I'm looking forward to experiencing what that feels like.

Cheryl Lee 9:32

Yes, it's incredible, and you are going to be incredible in it. Your EP, the Great Australian Songbook Volume One, has a John Farnham hit, Age of Reason. Is that also on the playlist for the tour?

Michael Paynter 9:44

Oh, I mean, that's ever-changing lists. So you might have a list, but it's I can guarantee you it's not the list.

Cheryl Lee 9:49

So have you got any surprises for us?

Miley Cyrus And Vocal Greatness

Michael Paynter 9:51

Yeah, there's lots of surprises, but I'm not giving them away until you're in the room. So not even a tiny little scoop?. No, no, no. I I can tell you that the uh the set list will be different every night. I'm not going to be doing the same set list twice. The guests will be different every show too. So I think that that'll bring with it its own new songs and its new vibe. And and yeah, I think that's just one of the good things about, you know, when you're paying the bills and it's your name on the poster, you get the the joy of picking the songs that you sing or you don't sing. So, you know, for one gig in my life, I don't have to do Khe Sanh or Great Southern Land for once. So I can leave them off the set list for once, which would be nice.

Cheryl Lee 10:23

Have you got a favorite song? Or is it just too hard to pick a favorite song?

Michael Paynter 10:29

Songs are like favourite children. You definitely have them, whether you want to admit it or not. It just they change. Who your favorite is changes every day. So my favorite song definitely changes. I've got I've got ones that I love to sing more than others, but look, to be honest with you, these are all my favorites. The reason that they're in this set is because I love them. And if I didn't like them, I wouldn't sing them. So if and even if I'm in the in the middle of a set and I feel like I don't really want to sing that song, I just skip it or do something else. The the definition of this show is that I have picked my favorite songs, you know. So they're all they're all ones that mean a lot to me and that I really enjoy singing, and then I think I can, you know, there's like a pair of jeans, a song sometimes, you know. Sometimes you try them on and they look good on other people, but they don't look good on you. And these are all ones that I've sort of gone into the change room here, sort of slipped them on and and thought, yeah, that feels good. And thought, yeah, but I can I can perform that live. So that's what I'm trying to do.

Cheryl Lee 11:17

Apart from uh oh dad, I'm just doing an interview.

Michael Paynter 11:21

Sorry, Dad. That just happened to me with my daughter. She just walked in the door behind behind me, so we're in the same boat there, working from home life.

Cheryl Lee 11:28

That's my dad, his deaf, so he wouldn't have heard.

Michael Paynter 11:30

Oh, well, hello, dad. We you can say hello to him later for me.

Cheryl Lee 11:34

Yeah, that's why he was coming around here, so he could lip read.

Michael Paynter 11:37

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Cheryl Lee 11:38

Now, what was I going to ask you then? Have you got a question that you wish someone in media would ask you?

Michael Paynter 11:44

Oh I mean, that's a question I've never been asked, so I'll go with that one. What question would you like to be asked? That's definitely a nice question. But yeah, I mean, you do you do so many of these things, you sort of get asked everything under the sun, really, but it's it's part of the part of the job. And and then most people are you just hope to sort of honestly connect with someone. And there's usually something about what you're doing that is interesting to someone, and you know, just sort of talking to people and and connecting with them and and you know, hearing people's stories is is one of the great things about the job. So I love it.

Cheryl Lee 12:13

One last question, because I know you've been pretty flat out since the release of these great two news events.

Speaker 2 12:21

Yes.

Cheryl Lee 12:22

You also are a producer as well. Are you finding that being a rock star is keeping you from your producing work?

Robbie Williams And AFL Grand Final

Michael Paynter 12:31

That's a line I've I've been treading for about 10 years. You know, that I've been the joke in Jimmy's band is that, you know, I'm always on my laptop in my headphones until I get tapped on the shoulder and saying, We're going on stage, you know. I'm always sort of busy doing something. So but yeah, I think just as, you know, particularly in the last little while with my tour and everything else going on, I'm sort of just dialed the production back a little and just sort of giving myself a little breathing space. So I'm not getting on 6 a.m. planes after three shows over the weekend to make it back for a for a studio session at 9 a.m. So I'm sort of trying to relieve myself of a little bit of that pressure. But yeah, I mean, I'm just the sort of person that's always busy. And if I'm not busy, I'll make myself busy. So it's not so much of a burden as a as a joy.

Cheryl Lee 13:18

It sounds like you are pretty good at multitasking.

Michael Paynter 13:21

I do, I do like to to juggle, yes.

Cheryl Lee 13:24

And lastly, how old are the little ones?

Michael Paynter 13:27

I have a two-year-old, I have a five-year-old, and a seven-year-old. Oh. So uh my wife is right in the thick of it right now. So she's she's the glue while I'm gallivanting all over the world doing things.

Cheryl Lee 13:37

does your wife and the children ever join you?

The Great Australian Songbook Tour

Michael Paynter 13:41

Uh sometimes. My my oldest came and saw Jesus Christ Superstar. I think the the others are probably still a little bit bit young, particularly the second tour, probably don't have enough emotional regulation to be in a in a uh quiet professional gig environment just yet. But hopefully we're hopefully we're entering an an age and a and a zone where I can do that more often because you know I want to try and get them to come see dad on some of these big stages while while they can before I'm old and past it and talking about the glory days. So it'll be nice to get them to be able to experience it, you know.

Cheryl Lee 14:11

Are any of the three showing any signs of inheriting the family business, the musical talent?

Michael Paynter 14:17

I mean, no more than any other little girls do. They love to sing and dance, and I mean, I'm not pushing them anyway. I said I put my daughter in in piano, but I mean, that's probably more for her mental development as it is for the purely musical side. But um, I think it's important for people to be able to play music and understand music and learn it. That doesn't mean you know, I want them to make it their their full-time job because I would not sure wish that on anyone. But yeah, I mean, they're still young, just trying to support whatever they feel passionate about at this age, and and hopefully they can just see an example in dad that doesn't really matter what your passion is, it can be something as crazy as writing country music and and singing songs. And if you you know you work hard at and stick at it, you can turn it into a to a career. So hopefully that's a good example for yeah. three girls? Three girls, yeah.

Cheryl Lee 15:04

I've got three girls and uh two boys. Are you gonna have any more?

Michael Paynter 15:08

Oh right, I didn't know you had five. I thought you capped out at three. No, I I look, I would go, I would go for some more, but my wife, who is the keeper of the household budget and also of the womb, assures me that we are done. I think that three is probably where we cap out it as a nice, a nice amount of chaos. I think any more chaos, and I think uh I think we'd uh need a full-time nanny or something, I think.

Cheryl Lee 15:29

It sounds like you two are absolutely blessed. So I'll let you run now. All the best for the EP, the tour, the John Farnham Theatre Show. I'll see you down the front.

Michael Paynter 15:40

We'll see you in Adelaide.

Cheryl Lee 15:41

Yeah.

Michael Paynter 15:41

With the chat.

Cheryl Lee 15:42

Thank you. Bye for now.

Speaker 1 15:44

you are listening to Still Rockin' It, the podcast with Cheryl Lee.

Cheryl Lee 15:51

Whispering Jack, the John Farnham musical out November 2026 has already become the hottest ticket in town. So let's have a little bit of a taste of it, shall we? Here's Michael with Burn for You. He says that if he had to sing one song to save his life, this would probably be it. And then Age of Reason, one of Michael's favourite Farnham songs, possibly his favourite. He loves the harmony and the poetry of the words and the way it analyses human nature.

Cheryl Lee 16:59

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.