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Built Under the Sun
by Suzan Dlouhy Inspired by text on a wall in South Brisbane that simply stated “Built Under the Sun” which led to a reflection on working and finding a sense of purpose. Composer in 2023. Lyrics This life wasn’t made for me Oh no Oh no Cos when I walk in the suns just coming Continue reading
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Wellington Moon
by Steve Laws Written after I had been out photographing the full moon rising over Lage Wellington in Gippsland. Composed in 2021. About the Composer Steve Laws is a multi-instrumentalist songwriter who performs with his sister Liz Wakely in The Mafeking Hillbillies. Continue reading
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Flowers and Weeds
by Lisa Richardson Written for my father, whose name was Wilfred. He lived until he was almost 103. I didn’t get to go to his funeral because Queensland was in lockdown so I wrote this song for him. Every time I sing it, I get to remember his spirit. Continue reading
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Burn in the Aimless
by Pascale This is basically just a frustration song; frustration about climate change and just feeling like you’re so hopeless and that all you do is sit around and eat foot and watch TV and do nothing to help. Continue reading
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Warrion Dreaming
by Mike Cosgriff Red Rock and Warrion are part of the volcanic plains just outside of Colac. This song came from an alternative 26th January day that the local Indigenous people were running. I went along and had a great day learning all this stuff about the country. I’ve been living in that country for Continue reading
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Your Place or Mine
by Amie Brûlée I did a PhD on the cultural side of wine between France and Australia and the sometime animosity between the old world and the new. Continue reading
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The Year of the Fire
by Kerry Maguire This is a true story of the Scott family who lived in Queenstown, Tasmania and the North Mount Lyell mine fire of 1912. All the tunnels in the mine were lined with King Billy pine, which has an incredibly high oil content. The fire took hold and it was an inferno; 42 Continue reading
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Taking it All Away
by Don Cowling Written about the Ash Wednesday bushfires back in 1983. Continue reading
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Drinking Wine
by Xueqian Zhang This is an ancient Chinese poem (饮酒) that I have turned into a song. The original poet was a politician who gave up his career in order to return to the countryside. He lived out the rest of his days in happiness, picking flowers and admiring the mountains. He felt like he Continue reading
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Built Like Us
by Felicity Dowd I come from a family of six people and a dog, so moving to Uni for me was a massive shift – especially because I moved into a house by myself. I very quickly realised the importance of family and just having them there as people. Continue reading
About Melbourne Tune collection
Melbourne Tune Collection records and publishes original folk tunes and songs from around Australia.
I started this project after realising that I barely knew any Australian folk tunes, even though I’ve been playing the fiddle for almost two decades. It wasn’t that Australians weren’t writing tunes, it’s just that there was limited publishing opportunities for them.
I thought maybe if I collect these tunes and put them together, they would have a better chance of getting played. So in early 2019 I set off with my camera and recorder, first around Melbourne, then across Australia.
This site is the result of these travels. Its purpose is to make Australian folk music as accessible as possible and promote the incredible music that’s being written today. I genuinely believe that there’s something special happening in the Melbourne and Australian folk music scenes right now.
I hope you enjoy playing through these tunes as much as I have!
Katherine Oleinikov
Melbourne Tune Collection 