By Jonty Ralphsmith
Lucky July 15 2021 was a bright, dry day in Silverton.
That is, a regular day in the Australian outback.
Country musician Jayne Denham filmed the video for her song Wanted’ a feature song of her 2021 album by the same name on that day.
With her photographer, she made the 12 hour trek from the Blue Mountains with director Jay Seeney and a small crew in a grey Mitsubishi Pajero to get the stunning visual backdrop.
“The sunrise and sundown was incredible,” Denham said.
“It’s just miles and miles of dirt and a slight hill and it’s so secluded.”
“There were all these ruins and we were walking around town with my leather jacket and gun and gun holster so it was so cool.”
After a counter meal and beer at the country pub, Denham made it home just hours before New South Wales entered a lockdown.
The location where Australian film series ‘Mad Max’ was filmed, Silverton is a tiny locality in the New South Wales outback.
The dusty red-soil plains are the sort that are depicted on postcards, fantasised as the embodiment of Australia by overseas visitors, yet the terrain is almost unmatched across the country.
It was a long trek, but worth it for the song which she described as being “country rock meeting spaghetti western”.
To properly immerse the western style into her music, she watched western films she grew up on such as ‘The Good, the bad and the ugly’ analytically, considering how similar soundtracks could work with her vocals.
“15 years ago when I started in country, the word western was a bit of a swear word, it was an uncool style of music,” she recalled.
“Now with TV shows like Yellowstone, whatever is old is new, so western music is becoming modern again everyone is right into it.”
Speaking to people from different walks of life, particularly those who grew up watching western-style films helped her perfect her lyrics.
“Observation has a lot to do with song-writing; you don’t have to be an expert about it to know enough to put it in a song.”
Existing fans will enjoy the slight deviation from her previous work because it is still on-brand, and those who don’t know her can expect a fun night.
“It is going to be a little different because the footage and video will mean it is an experience, not just a show.
“They will get a full experience of the ‘Wanted’ record.
“I love being an entertainer that’s my favourite thing so we love getting the crowd involved and it will be a great night so hopefully people come along.”
Denham’s first live performance of the album in Victoria will be at the Hallam Hotel on Thursday August 4 at 7.30pm and she encourages all people to come along.
Get tickets via the following link: liveatyourlocal.com.au/event/jayne-denham-4/
