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Lucie Thorne's music is warm, subtle and profoundly affecting. Thorne's trademark intimacy, lyricism and beautiful reverb drenched guitar-work have seen her favourably compared to Gillian Welch and Emmylou Harris but her her sound is uniquely and unmistakeably her own. Her latest album "Bonfires In Silver CIty" was one of our favourites of 2011.  We exchanged emails with her last week.

LUCIE THORNE - Till The Season

We first came across your music when you were nominated for the 2009 AMP Award with Black Across The Field. I imagine that heaps of people were first introduced to your music after that nomination. Did that momination change things for you? Did the nominations and critical acclaim (you've had a lot of it) affect the way you viewed your own music?

I did feel a bit like the 'dark horse' on that short list. Of course it's great to get that kind of recognition, (with the whole premise of the AMP being focused on 'artist merit' rather than, ah,  'popular success') ... and that kind of accolade, and good reviews and such, certainly all help to shift your profile and bring in new listeners. But it is a pretty fickle business out there - i don't know that its very useful to pay much attention to any of that sorta thing really. I figure the main thing is to keep doing what you're doing... making the records you wanna make, writing the songs you wanna write, singin em to people who wanna listen...


We read that the album was written while touring extensively. As an independent artist, how important is touring to your life as a musician? Does it inspire you?

Touring is central. Both in terms of the viability of trying to eek out a living as an independent musician, but also, for me, for the energy i get from it. The energy you get from performing. From connecting with audiences and feeling your work resonate. And there's certainly plenty of inspiration, and ' creative fuel' to be found from life on the road - you meet a lot of folks and go a lot of places. It can of course be kinda exhausting at times, though... mostly cos of all the fun i can't help having along the way...?!

Any places that you'd never imagined visting?

I've found myself performing in plenty of places i might not have easily imagined including Romania in two consecutive European tours, with gigs in Bucharest and Cluj - up in the Transylvanian mountains - (and, ah, sharing the bill with some pretty wild local punk bands?!) has gotta be pretty high on that list...

What do you have in store for 2012 and beyond?

I'll be joining the fabulous Pieta Brown (US) for her Australian tour in March - which i'm pretty excited about - she's one of my absolute favourites! And there'll be plenty of other shows in other various corners of the country throughout the year of course. 'Bonfires In Silver City' is also being released in Europe this year by a little label in the Netherlands (the same folks who released 'Black Across The Field' in Europe in 2010) so i'll be heading back over there for more touring a little later in the year too...

What are your favourite Australian independent artists.?

ah... there are so many! but to name just a few...; Jo Jo Smith, Kim Dellavedova, Jimmy Dowling, Sal Kimber & the Rollin Wheel, Matt Walker, Hello Satellites, Sweet Jean...

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Lucie has a bunch of gigs coming up over the next months, including a stint at the Port Fairy Folk Festival and a tour with Peita Brown - Check out all dates here.