Entertainment
25 September, 2025
Swift makes his Savannah debut
AUSTRALIAN country music’s “loveable troubadour” Andrew Swift is well-known for his lyrical honesty and ability to depict the highs and lows of life. The multi-award-winning artist is eagerly awaiting his Savannah in the Round debut next month.
Andrew Swift is pumped to be playing at Savannah in the Round for the very first time in just a couple of weeks, and with his new album Lucky Stars scheduled for release the week after the festival, he’s excited to “give folks a bit of a preview”.
“It’s my first time playing at Savannah. I’ve played in Cairns before with the Wolfe Brothers, but this will be my first time coming to Mareeba,” he said.
“It’s a festival I’ve wanted to do for a while, so I’m stoked we’re finally on it, going to be bringing the band up with me.
“I’ve heard fantastic things about Savannah, from artists and fans. Everyone says it’s such a great festival, and the lineup is always really solid, so they’re (the festival) obviously doing something right.
“We’re going to be testing out some stuff from the new album. I’m really keen to start playing some of these new songs and give folks a bit of a preview.”
The 2023 Male Artist of the Year said his new album reflects how his life has been going lately, which is “quite well”, saying that his stars have finally aligned – especially after the birth of his first child Valentine just a few months ago.
“The title (of the album) comes from a track on there called Oh Valentine, which is a song that my partner and I wrote for our daughter Valentine,” Swift said.
“We’ve actually recorded it as a duet. She sings as a bit of a hobby, and she’s got a stunning voice.
“There is a bit of a theme with this album, that everything’s going quite well. The first single we released this year was Nothing Better, and that kind of sums up a lot of it.
“It wasn’t that long ago that I was fixing up caravans for a living and the love life wasn’t that great, but now everything’s turned around, the stars have aligned and everything’s going really well.”
Other singles Swift has released this year include Get Lost, which was written by his friend, and See You At The Bottom, with both songs being part of his upcoming album.
“I connected with Get Lost because it’s about getting out on the road and getting away from all your usual haunts and getting somewhere new, seeing somewhere new, and that’s what I love about what I do,” he said.
Swift began his music career in the pop/punk world in Melbourne but later established a name for himself as a country artist after being a Toyota Star Maker finalist in 2017.
“I started doing music in high school and some friends approached me and said ‘Swifty, we’re starting a band, you play guitar, rehearsals at your house this weekend because you’ve got a big shed’. So that was the only reason I was in the band pretty much,” he laughed.
“It turns out it was a pop/punk band, I’d never heard the music before. But when I eventually started writing my own music and playing my own stuff, people said it had a bit of a country vibe to it.
“I’d say ‘don’t use that ‘c’ word with me’. I thought it was a bad thing, coming from the pop/punk world,” he joked.
“It took me a while to really accept it though. I got dragged up to Tamworth in 2015 and just fell in love with the scene and just realised it’s where I belonged.
“So that’s when I made the decision to focus on the country scene, I stopped writing for about 18 months and just listened, trying to get some new influences.”
The release of his debut album in 2018, Call Out For The Cavalry, was an instant success and earned recognition for tracks like Runaway Train and Reckless Desires.
Swift, as mentioned before, was working in the workshop of a caravan dealership and decided to go “all in” when he released his first album, telling his boss he wanted to “work his ass off” in the hopes of getting nominated for a Golden Guitar.
The album earned him four Golden Guitar nominations, two of which he won – for Alternative Country Album of the Year and New Talent of the Year for Runaway Train.
If you want to catch Swift’s performance at the festival, he will be playing on Sunday 12 October from 2.15pm at the Bull Bar. Additionally, his new album Lucky Stars will be released on 17 October.
For more information about the festival, which will be held from 9-12 October, visit www.savannahintheround.com.au
