Still Rockin' It - Cheryl Lee
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Still Rockin' It - Cheryl Lee
Robbie Mortimer - From Farm Life to The Bend Classic - Cars Country & Camping Stage
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Join Cheryl Lee - That Radio Chick on STILL ROCKIN' IT for news, reviews, music and interviews with some of our favourite Australian musicians
Country music in Australia didn’t just get bigger, it got bolder. I’m joined by Australian country rock artist Robbie Mortimer as we catch up before his trip to South Australia for the October long weekend at The Bend Classic - Cars Country Camping at Shell V-Power Motorsport Park in Tailem Bend.
Robbie’s story starts in country New South Wales, where loving country music used to earn you a bit of grief, and ends with packed festival crowds singing back lyrics that began as bedroom demos.
We get into the crossroads moments: growing up in a rugby league family, spending time in the younger grades with the Broncos, and realizing music was the thing that made him happiest. Robbie shares what it looks like to commit to the artist path, including the jobs he tried along the way, the touring grind, and the lesson that you don’t build a following by waiting for permission.
We also talk career highlights like performing on the PBR Professional Bull Riders tour, plus the creative side of the job, from music video concepts to using local friends and hometown locations to make something people actually want to share.
If you’re searching for an Australian country music festival experience that goes beyond the stage, this chat is for you. The Bend Classic weekend blends live country music with cars, racing, camping, BBQ competitions, cooking sessions, youth activities, and a family movie night, and Robbie explains why it truly “has something for everyone.”
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What's Robbie Mortimer up to at the moment? Let's find out!
Get out when you can, support local music and I'll see you down the front!!
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The Bend Classic Cars Preview
Cheryl LeeOctober long weekend this year's sees Shell V Power Motorsport Park hosts the Bend Classic - Cars Country Camping. We're lucky enough to catch up with Robbie Mortimer. He's on at 6:30 on the main stage on the Saturday, in between James Blundell and co-headliners Lee Kernaghan and James Johnston. He's been to all the other country music festivals. Indeed, we're good at putting on festivals in Australia, aren't we? Now we come to the best one: the bend at Motorsport Park, Tailem Bend. Let's catch up with the 32-year-old Australian country rock artist and find out what else he's up to.
Robbie Mortimer Joins The Show
Cheryl LeeYou're with Cheryl Lee, that radio chick, I'd like to welcome into our Zoom room today. Robbie Mortimer, you're a baby, Robbie, 32 years old, Australian country rock artist. Welcome.
Robbie MortimerThank you. Thanks very much for having me. I'll take the baby compliment too. Thank you.
Cheryl LeeNow what a absolutely fantastic time to be in country music, right?
Robbie MortimerYeah, it's all set me to pop off. I obviously grew up loving and and listening to countriy, still being living here in country New South Wales, so yeah, it's funny. We used to cop a little bit for listening to country
Country Music’s Comeback In Australia
Robbie Mortimermusic growing up, and now it's popular. So I've got something something to give back to some of my mates.
Cheryl LeeOh, absolutely. It was funny. I was speaking James Johnston, who's on the bill with you at our Bend here yesterday, actually, and I was saying the same thing. Like liking country used to be not so cool. Now you guys are the coolest of the cool.
Robbie MortimerI know it's very, very popular now. So I think James has led a lot of that race for us. I was here for quite a number of years now, and then other incredible acts like as was I'm sure we'll speak about Lee and all those others as well. So yeah, it's it's very popular at the moment, which is great.
Cheryl LeeYeah, it certainly you know has been on a massive trajectory for a while now.
Footy Legacy Farm Upbringing
Cheryl LeeSo good to see you on that ride, Robbie. Now you, as you mentioned, grew up on a farm in country New South Wales, and I usually ask, you know, was music in your DNA? But you had something else also in your DNA as well, didn't you? As in your family, is a I'm a South Australian. I am. I'm League Challenged. Is it rugby challenged? What is it called?
Robbie MortimerYeah, rugby league, yeah. So yeah, my dad played for dad and uncles played for the Bulldogs for about 13 years, or you know, in during the 80s, and then one of my brothers played for Roosters and Parramatta and a couple other clubs. Yeah, so that's been that's been pretty cool to kind of grow up with that competitive background. But I think you know, the nice thing, you know, as I mentioned, grew up on a farm in country New South Wales, and mum and dad always just encouraged us to do whatever we wanted to do as long as we did it properly. And and I had many different paths before really kind of settling on the music stuff. So very grateful for mum and dad and my upbringing for uh allowing us to do what we what our really heart desired. And and and yeah, mine was definitely country music.
Cheryl LeeSo yeah, the scope to just follow your dreams.
Picking Music Over Sport And Teaching
Cheryl LeeWas there ever a point where you had to decide between music and sport?
Robbie MortimerWas yeah, definitely. In my younger years, I went up to Brisbane and played a couple of years with some with the with the Broncos in the early in the early in the younger grades and then and then up uh with Redcliffe Dolphins as well. And then I think it kind of got to a point where I think the music just kind of I was a little bit more passionate about it. And as I said, I tried some other career paths as well. I was a special needs school teacher in my hometown before stepping into the music stuff full time, but music's always been you know the thing that makes me the happiest and and um makes me tick. So why not why not do something you're happy with every day?
Cheryl LeeYeah, what what do they say? Do what you're passionate about, you never work your day in your life, right?
Robbie MortimerNo, that's exactly what I'm definitely doing that, which is great.
Cheryl LeeGood on you. Now, four older brothers. I've got five children as well. I take my hat off to your mum.
Robbie MortimerYeah, we um we're very lucky. mum and dad have somehow survived our you can imagine exactly what it was like, but I'm sure they wouldn't change it for the world and we wouldn't either. We're very lucky. So and we work for our mum and and and respect our dad very much for the way he brought us up too. So very awesome.
Cheryl LeeAnd um the brothers, are they do they follow you your sort of or do you follow them? Are they into music or are they into the sport or have they gone completely different ways?
Robbie MortimerA bit of everything. I think we've all we've all got really different job roles now. We've always into music and sport and all that kind of stuff, as I mentioned. But yeah, we've all kind of gone different directions and doing our thing. But yeah, I think we're all doing jobs that we're really happy with, and they're all very supportive of me on my journey too, which is great.
Cheryl LeeWell, you can't really ask for more than that, can you, if everybody's happy, you know, with the path that they've chosen. Now, we in Australia, we know how to throw a country music festival,
Big Stages PBR And Viral Videos
Cheryl Leedon't we?
Robbie MortimerThat's right. Oh yeah, we found that out. That's that's for sure.
Cheryl LeeIt's our forte, I reckon. Now you've done you've featured on a lot of the top festivals, CMC Rocks, Groundwater, the Gimpy Music Muster, Meat Stock, headline for PBR tour three years running crowned, entertainer of the year. I'm sorry for being so ignorant. What is the PBR tour?
Robbie MortimerThe professional bull riding. So I had a great couple of years out there with the PBR doing the yeah, doing the half-time show for a couple of years. So it was it was a great I got to kind of go all around Australia and and yeah, play at the half-time of the of the bull riding. So I'm not silly enough to get on one of those bulls, but I definitely did some entertaining in between, which was great. So yeah, really enjoyed that and it got me out to some really big audiences and and got to grow my crowd and my following by just by getting in front of people. So yeah, I've been very, very lucky with that opportunity.
Cheryl LeeJust to top it all off. You're coming to the best one, you're coming to our state in South Australia, the Bend Classic - Cars, Country, and Camping. That is on the long weekend in October, and you are on the main stage just before Lee, I think James hit the stage. Yeah. Have you been to South Australia before?
Robbie MortimerYeah, I've I've been down to Adelaide a couple of times. I haven't explored too much of the rest of South Australia, so but I've I've heard only beautiful things about it. So I really can't wait to bring the band down and bring a show. And really, really excited. I've got you know people from all over Australia who travel to come and come and watch me play now. So I'm excited to kind of get people out there and encourage them to buy their tickets and and come down and support a great weekend. You know, the the lineup itself is is amazing. And and to be able to, you know, grow up in country New South Wales and bring some songs that I wrote in my bedroom or wherever it may be to you know to people who are singing along to it, you know, all the way down there in South Australia. I'm I'm very honoured and can't wait to can't wait to get down there.
Cheryl LeeWell,
The New Music Economy And Authenticity
Cheryl Leecongratulations on your successes. It's amazing for me to see that you've had millions of streams on the internet. After your breakout singles, blow the speakers and you got that love, which were both in the you know, top 50 in Country Town. You've got infectious anthems with heartfelt lyrics, like you got that love. That was in top 10 finals for the music video of the year. Congratulations!
Robbie MortimerYeah, thank you. That was a fun one. We just had a bit of a bit of fun with that, filmed it in our hometown. And uh, one thing I'm very proud of is I, you know, I use all local people I grew up with. We filmed at the IGA there, and then my bass players also does my content and video stuff with me. So yeah, that was that was just a fun kind of taking the Mickey out of myself a little of a bit of a film clip that went quite well, and yeah, we got a yeah top 10 finalists for a global unsigned awards, which is cool, and I went number one on CMT as well. So yeah, I love that kind of creative side too, not just the songwriting and the singing and the live performance, the actual kind of creative side of making making music videos. I grew up watching Rage in the morning and all that kind of stuff. So I've always loved my music videos and stuff like that. So yeah, so that was that was good to get some accolades for that, but it's more so just fun to create them and let it let other people bring some uh bring some joy to some other people as well.
Cheryl LeeI think as Aussius, we're really good at that as well, you know, laughing at ourselves.
Robbie MortimerYeah, yeah, yeah. I think it's the only way to do it, to be honest. We are we're pretty good culture like that, I think.
Cheryl LeeLast year in 2025 alone, you had more than 4.4 million streams, 8 million Insta. I don't even know what I'm saying. This is a bit of a different I'm very impressed, yeah.
Robbie MortimerWell done. I'm very impressed.
Cheryl LeeInsta real views and 55,000 um on Insta. So congratulations.
Robbie MortimerYeah, thank you.
Cheryl LeeIt's a little bit of a different world, I think, than it was a while ago, and you seem to be navigating it extremely well.
Robbie MortimerYeah, and I it's it's funny. I always thought I probably would have enjoyed coming up in the in the 90s and early 2000s where you could go around and sell your CDs and and and this and that. You know, this this online world's a little different, but it's but we're so lucky as well to be able to, you know, have people, you know, down your way being able to just to listen to my music from the click of a button and then hopefully come and sing them uh word for word when we're playing at the band there in October. So yeah, no, it's it's an ever-changing world, and and I'm willing to adapt with whatever way it goes as long as I'm sticking authentically to myself,
Upcoming Festivals And Bend Weekend Guide
Robbie Mortimerand that's the main thing for me.
Cheryl LeeExactly right. So you've also supported some great iconic acts like the Beach Boys and The Temptations. How was that? What was that like?
Robbie MortimerThat was amazing. That was kind of at the probably at the start of my musical journey where uh I was given this opportunity to open for the Beach Boys and had a great chat to Mike Love and I grew up listening to that that music. So that was that was that was really, really special and got some great advice. And I think it just every time you play something like that or or you know other things, you know, it it it really I don't know sparks a sparks a bit more of a fire in you and you get an amazing feeling when you get to sing songs that that I wrote, as I said. It's yeah, it's very special.
Cheryl LeeSo apart from coming to the great state of South Australia and playing at our bend classic, you've got a couple of other things on the go as well. Before that, you are going to, and I must admit, I hadn't heard of this one. I thought I'd heard of all the country festivals, but I haven't heard of the Tara Festival of Culture and Camel Racing.
Robbie MortimerYeah, so that that that'll be a fun one. That's in a couple of weeks. We're heading up to uh to Queensland, yeah, little little country town called Tara. And yeah, apparently it's an amazing weekend. The whole you know wider community gets out to that as well. So I've I've been lucky enough to go and see quite a bit of our beautiful country with it with a guitar and with my band and as I said, singing songs. So I get around a lot, but you know, get to meet some amazing fans and and and you know, fans become friends and they they become on the journey. So yeah, I'm very lucky to be able to do that.
Cheryl LeeYou got the gimpy music muster in August, and then after us in South Australia here at the Band Classic, you've got Savannah in the round. So no rest for the wicked.
Robbie MortimerI know, right? I wouldn't have it any other way. It's great. It's uh yeah, I absolutely love it. So yeah, no complaints here.
Cheryl LeeSo it's the Shell V Power Motor Sports R. Sorry, that's Barnesy, he's asking if I can do backing vocals for him.
Robbie MortimerThere you go. Sign you up. You might get a problem with me as well. Look out.
Cheryl Leealso if you need a tambourine, it's not your woman.
Robbie MortimerOh, there you go. As long as it's in time.
Cheryl LeeLet me say that again. So it's the Shell V Power Motorsport Park event called the Bend Classic, is in the long weekend in October. Not only have you got some fantastic artists coming, but there's heaps and heaps of other stuff on the go. Barbecue competitions, cooking sessions, youth musters, extra, and car displays, racing and classic cars, and a Sunday night driving family movie.
Robbie MortimerYeah, it's got to be really, really good ones. I think it's a really good event for you know people to bring their families and and there's just something for all ages and and and people of all demographics. You don't just have to be into cars or country music or whatever. I guarantee that if you if you come along to it, you'll find something that you really that you really like and and you know open open your mind up to some maybe some things you haven't before. But you know, to have people like Lee Kernaghan, who's just he's just an Australian legend on the lineup, and and James and himself and Tori Dark and you know some other really, really good acts that are coming down there and we'll really rock the socks off the Bend there. So yeah, I'd very much encourage people to get out there and , come and support it. It's gonna be an awesome event.
Cheryl LeeWell, we are so looking forward to you and the other artists shaking your tail, feather, and showing us your stuff here at the Bend. And we can't wait to welcome you to our town. And I shall see you down the front there, Robbie.
Robbie MortimerI'll I'll hold you to it, Cheryl Lee. I'll be taking attendance, so I'll see you front and center.
Cheryl LeeYeah, I'll have my boot scooting boots on.
Robbie MortimerThere you go. Yeah, I'll see you down front and centre. It sounds awesome.
Cheryl LeeThank you so much. I think we're our time is probably up. It's so lovely to meet you, and thank you for spending some time with us. And I hope you enjoy coming to our
Tickets Support Aussie Music Goodbye
Cheryl Leegreat state.
Robbie MortimerYeah, looking forward to getting down to that beautiful part of the world and um, yeah, and meeting all the people that come and show up and support us too. So can't wait. Bring on October.
Cheryl LeeAwesome. Thank you so much. Now, was there anything else, Robbie, that you would have liked to have touched on that we can talk about and I can edit back in there? Was there any other points you'd like to mention?
Robbie MortimerNo, I think I'll just encourage people to get the tickets and that there's something for everyone. Oh, yeah, we're definitely looking forward to getting down there. So yeah, bring it on. Excellent. Looks like we'll be catching up with you down there too, so that'll be good.
Cheryl LeeYou enjoy the rest of your day, Robbie.
Robbie MortimerSee you later. Thank you. Cheers. Bye.
Cheryl LeeYou'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.