AustLit

'In the final pages of his third autobiographical book in four years, Jimmy Barnes breaks the fourth wall to let the reader in on his experience of writing the previous 400 pages. “The act of writing used to be a painful process for me,” he notes. “Trawling through the wreckage that was my childhood caused me immense pain, but I had to do it. I needed to look at it all in the cold, clear light of day, so that I could let it all go.” Then his thoughts are interrupted by the voice of his five-year-old grandson, Dylan, whose sense of innocence and wonder is infectious, and whose life experience is untainted by the misery that Barnes went through in the 1960s.'  (Introduction)

'Singer-songwriter Paul Kelly has a personal and judgmental view of his own career, writes Andrew McMillen The vast majority of Paul Kelly’s fans will die before they ever get a chance to hear his first two albums in full. The singer-songwriter’s 1981 debut Talk and its 1982 follow-up Manila — each recorded with his band The Dots — are long out of print in CD and vinyl form and are not available on any streaming service.' (Introduction)

'Adam Briggs , 33, is a hip-hop artist, comedy writer, record label owner, actor and newly published children’s book author.' (Introduction)

'How a small team from Brisbane created a global children’s television sensation that celebrates play, parenting and blue heelers, writes Andrew McMillen' 

'Melbourne singer-songwriter CLARE BOWDITCH , 44, has written a memoir that details how she learned to confront anxiety and depression while pursuing a career in music.'  (Introduction)

'Ahead of meeting songwriter Don Walker for today’s cover story, I finally got around to reading his 2009 memoir Shots, about which I’d heard plenty of good things but for which I had never set aside the time. Its fine reputation is entirely accurate: the book is a hypnotic piece of work unlike anything I’ve read before, thanks to an addictive writing style that favours long, flowing sentences with minimal punctuation. It shouldn’t work, really, but it does, because Walker is not the sort of bloke to waste a word, either on the page or in person.' (Introduction)