Hero worship amid rare quartet of duets for Budjerah
Performing a soulful Sam Cooke cover with Missy Higgins is only the newest collaboration for this remarkable 22-year-old, having previously sung with Kylie Minogue, Tina Arena and Ed Sheeran.
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A Change is Gonna Come: so sang Budjerah at The Australian’s 60th anniversary gala dinner in late July, while performing a mighty cover of the 1964 Sam Cooke classic.
The singer-songwriter born Budjerah Slabb wasn’t alone on stage that night at The Australian Museum in Sydney, as he shared his vocal talents with an audience that included prime ministers and business leaders. “I got to sing with Missy Higgins – the recent ARIA Hall of Famer – which is so cool,” he said. “She’s so amazing; she’s one of my favourite singers, and I was really happy to get to sing with her.
“It was such a beautiful night; they had great food, and this fancy wine – but I don’t drink, so I was just handing it off to the people next to me,” he said with a laugh.
That soulful Cooke cover with Higgins is only his newest high-profile collaboration, having previously performed with Kylie Minogue, Tina Arena and Ed Sheeran.
That’s the sort of duet list plenty of vocalists would spend their whole life coveting, yet he’s managed to work with this unique quartet of chart-topping singers at the age of 22.
“It’s been so strange meeting heroes of mine, and being able to perform with them,” he said. “These are people that I listened to growing up, and now they’re right next to me, and we’re singing together. It feels strange, but it also makes my heart really happy to be acknowledged by my heroes.”
Based in the northern NSW town of Fingal Head, Budjerah has been signed to Warner Music since he was 17.
During the past five years, his esteem in the industry has steadily risen via a slow drip of EP and single releases, including the platinum-certified single Therapy.
In 2021 he won the ARIA Award for breakthrough artist, and notched another ARIA in 2022 for best soul/R&B release; last year he played to stadium-sized crowds when he joined Sheeran as a national tour support act.
When Budjerah met with The Australian at Brisbane music venue The Triffid on Monday morning, the band room was empty and silent, yet pregnant with possibility; a space primed to electrify.
It is there on Friday night that his national tour – dubbed Therapy Sessions – will begin, followed by shows in Sydney (Saturday), Adelaide (September 13), Perth (Sept 14), Melbourne (Sept 20) and Brunswick Heads (Sept 28).
Asked to cast his mind forward to show time, what does he hope happens inside The Triffid once the lights go down on Friday night?
“I hope I can hit all my notes,” he said with a laugh. “My hope is that I leave people with a great memory and a good time.
“That’s what music is about: the feeling and the heart. I like to think of going to concerts that I love, and I hope I can leave people with that same feeling I left with.”
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