APRA-winning Courtney Barnett on song again as awards keep coming

The accolades keep coming for Courtney Barnett, with an APRA music award last night to add to her string of ARIAs.

Songwriter of the year Courtney Barnett at the APRA music awards in Sydney yesterday.

The accolades just keep coming for Australian singer Courtney Barnett on the back of her debut album Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit.

The 28-year-old Melbourne-based artist has four ARIA Awards and Grammy and Brit award nominations. Last night topped an amazing year since the album was released when she was named songwriter of the year at the annual APRA music awards in Sydney. The top title at the gala event for local songwriters confirms Barnett’s status as one of the country’s most promising songwriters and performers.

“I felt when I got my APRA membership in 2007 I was a real songwriter,” she said last night. “Thank you for listening to me.”

Barnett was joined in the top tier of winners at Sydney’s ­Carriageworks last night by Perth rock band Tame Impala. The group’s singer and songwriter Kevin Parker won the song of the year trophy for the band’s Let It Happen, taken from last year’s ARIA-winning album Currents.

Breakthrough songwriter of the year was 22-year-old Alex Hope, who has written songs for artists such as Troye Sivan, Tina Arena and Jessica Mauboy.

It was a special evening also for rock veterans Cold Chisel, who received the prestigious Ted ­Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music.

The band members were presented with the award by artist Ben Quilty, while fellow rockers The Living End paid tribute to Chisel’s legacy by closing the show with a spirited rendition of their classic song Khe Sanh.

The APRAs are staged by the Australasian Performing Right Association and the Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society, which license copy­righted material and collect publishing royalties on behalf of local songwriters and composers.

Adelaide’s pop superstar Sia’s worldwide hit Chan­delier was named the most played Australian work overseas.

Other winners included up- and-coming pop singer Jarryd James, whose hit Do You Remember was named pop work of the year, while Western Australia’s Birds of Tokyo took out the rock work of the year award with ­Anchor. Hilltop Hoods’ hit Cosby Sweater won the urban work of the year title; Lee Kernaghan’s Spirit of the Anzacs won country work of the year and Peking Duk featuring Safia received dance work of the year for Take Me Over.