There’s a new wave of Australian country music stars in town, none more exciting than Lane Pittman.
Pittman has gone from his time on The Voice Australia (where he reached the semi-finals) to touring arenas with US country superstar Luke Combs (who he actually covered in his blind audition). His Voice mentor was Keith Urban, who praised Pittman for his authenticity.
It’s a good time for Combs to be touring Down Under: country music streams have grown 73% on Spotify in the past two years, with Australia now ranking fourth for listeners discovering country music for the first time in the past 12 months alone.
It’s also a great time for Pittman to be touring, after he was named New Talent of the Year at the Golden Guitar Awards this month. Buoyed by that triumph, he’s now excited to play some shows.
“I’ll be touring with Luke Combs for his full Australian leg and I’m looking forward to hitting all the big cities and performing for this new wave of country fans,” he says.
Read our full interview with Pittman below, in which he discusses the resurgence of country music in Australia, touring with Combs, and more.
Find Combs and Pittman’s tour dates here.
Rolling Stone AU/NZ: You’ve had some incredible milestones in your career at a young age, from reaching the semi-finals of The Voice to touring with Luke Combs. How do you reflect on your journey so far, and what has it taught you about the music industry, especially with mentors like Keith Urban?
Lane Pittman: Yeah, I kind of described the last few years as a whirlwind. In a weird way, I’m this anomaly that went from a nobody playing in pubs, to national TV, to an arena tour, to now being on one of the biggest country stadium tours in Australia. Well actually not one of – it’s the biggest, which is still mind-boggling. So it’s been weird. Spotify Australia recently told me they recorded a 58% growth in streams for my music alone the past year, so it’s been an unreal journey.
I think with the mentors, Keith, for the time I spent with him on The Voice, he was such a lovely guy. And there was one quote in particular, it was just after I’d got eliminated in the semi finals, it’s always kind of stuck with me. He said, “A lot of people in this industry, the thing is fake it till you make it.” But he said, “Lane, over this whole experience and the time I’ve spent with you, you decided to ‘fake it until you made it.’ And I think you’re going to continue with that through your whole career.”
Your self-titled debut EP hit No. 1 on the Australian Country Musics Album Chart. What does that achievement mean to you and how has it shaped your confidence as an emerging artist?
Yeah, that was an unreal day. I remember getting a text from my manager and he was like, “We’ve gone number one.” And I went, “There’s no way.” It’s like for a first release, you always hope that it’ll [do] well and that you’ll get there. But obviously you’ve kind of got to be realistic in a way.
I think it all just kind of circles back to how good of a spot country is becoming in Australia over the last few years. It was so unreal for me to just be up there and you see the people that I was surrounded with at the time – James Johnston, Brad Cox, Troy Cassar-Daley, The Whitlams Black Stump, so many amazing artists that were up there. And to be at that number one spot was a really cool thing for me.
You’ve got this really special connection with Luke Combs having opened for him in 2023 and on this sold-out 2025 stadium tour. What have you learned personally from him as an artist and how does it influence or manifest in your own performances?
There’s so much I’ve learned from Luke and, more of an extension to that, his entire team. I saw it on the 2023 arena tour. And especially on this stadium tour, they are who they are, they’re not intimidated. Obviously Luke is one of the biggest acts in the world but he and his crew, they’re truly all about putting on the best show.
Their goal is to entertain the people that have paid their hard-earned money. And you can see that with Luke. I’ve seen footage of him play a show with no voice and refund everybody who came to that show, because he didn’t feel like it was where it needed to be. So it’s stuff like that. And Luke’s just such a genuine guy. I caught up with him again on Saturday at Suncorp [Stadium] and he was just a legend. He walked straight over and I just let him know that we’d won the Golden Guitar and he kind of gave me a fist bump and dapped me up and said “congrats,” which was really cool. So just [to] be around that sort of environment and ecosystem is really cool.
So country music in Australia is seeing this massive surge in popularity recently, especially in metropolitan areas. How does it feel to be part of this exciting new wave and what do you think is driving the growth of the genre in cities like Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane?
Yeah, it is unreal to be a part of this growth. I’ve had people who I’ve known for the longest time who swore off country music. Especially being in Tamworth, it was kind of taboo to like country music in Tamworth for a bit, which sounds really weird when you say it. But obviously being from the country music capital of Australia, it was cool for the youth to not like country music.
I saw people at Suncorp, who I knew swore black and blue against country, enjoying themselves in the front row of the pit, which was so hilarious to me. But I think it all stems from these international guys who have just gone absolutely insane. You look at the Morgan Wallens, Zach Bryans, these kind of people that have come down here and toured.
The impact is that country has become cool, and its popularity is being driven by metro audiences. Spotify listener data highlighted that 92% of total streams of country music over the past two years are from listeners listening in cities like Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane.
It’s been really, really amazing to be a part of that as a local artist… it’s a great time for country music as a whole and the local scene’s growing bigger than ever. You look at guys like Brad Cox, James Johnston, myself, there’s so many people who are at the forefront of this here. And to be in that crew is really amazing.
Expanding on that, with the explosion of country music’s popularity in metro Australia, how do you think the genre will evolve in a few years? Where do you see yourself fitting into this larger cultural shift that’s happening?
Country’s one of those weird things to predict. It’s like if you would’ve told me three years ago that there’d be a stadium tour being played by a country act, I probably would’ve thought it was a bit outrageous. So it’s one of those things that you really don’t know, but I think with the growth we’re just going to see country music become a part of everyday life.
I think people are finally starting to realise that country [is] a little bit more than trucks, beer and “my girlfriend broke up with me.” There’s a little bit of substance to the genre, which has been really fun.
As someone who started your musical journey at such a young age, how do you stay grounded amidst all of the fast paced success and attention? What’s your secret to keeping a clear head in a whirlwind and ever-growing industry?
I think it’s all about the people you surround yourself with. Obviously I have a great, great team. I have a great band who keep me very humble. They love to throw some crap around with me and keep me humble. My family, my partner, I have a lot of people. My pop in particular, he’s always said, “I’ll let your head get big to a degree, especially around these cool announcements, like the tours and stuff.” He’s like,”I’ll let you get big for a day or two and then he’ll bring me right back down to the ground.” He always says, “I’ve got a size 10 and a half boot and I’m not afraid to use it.” We’ll leave it at that.
I think you mentioned in a previous interview that you were dared to audition for The Voice. Looking back, how important was that moment in shaping the artist that you are today? And do you think you would’ve pursued music regardless if not for that dare?
Yeah, I kind of always had dreamed of doing music as a job. From the time I joined the school choir in primary school, I was just like, “Yeah, music’s a cool thing to do, wouldn’t it be cool to do this for a job and to get paid for it?” And I’d started doing some gigs in 2020 and then obviously COVID came and shut the world down.
A lot of my mates would listen to me sing and especially after I’d hit puberty and my voice had dropped, they’re like, “Oh, Lane’s actually not half bad at this. He can actually sing.”
I would’ve done my best to be involved in the industry, even if it was still only singing at the local pub every Friday, Saturday night, just as a thing on the side. I think having a supportive friend group who really want you to pursue and achieve your goals has been a really fun thing. It’s cool to bring them along for the ride.
Switching back to this incredible tour with Combs, how do you personally prepare mentally and physically for a show of the magnitude that you have coming up?
Yeah, our approach with the band has been a really fun one. It’s just been, “Look, it’s the same but it’s a different view. We’ve got 25 minutes, let’s just go out there. Let’s show ’em what the local country music scene is all about.” A lot of these people who are coming to these shows might not be as well-versed in the local scene. They might only know the international guys. So it’s been sort of a responsibility to show them that Australian country music is alive and healthy and that we can compete with those international guys.
But on the actual side of preparing, they had some ice baths in Brisbane. I was going in and doing an ice bath, which was ridiculously cold, there’s footage floating around of me in one of those. As cold as they were, they were the best things.
You’re known for having a captivating live presence. What’s your go-to strategy for connecting with an crowd, especially when performing for a crowd who may not be familiar with your music yet?
I kind of just try and be myself. Anybody who knows me personally knows I am a bit of a dickhead. So I love to just be an idiot and I try and bring the same energy on stage. So I think it’s not taking yourself too seriously and honestly a lot of people are there the same as me, they just want to have a good time. So if you are bringing the vibe, they’ll bring the vibe back.
We have “Amen for the Weekend”, our current radio single, and we get the crowd involved in that. We get ’em clapping and dancing and we’re seeing it translate now. There’s people in the front rows singing the songs, dancing, having a good time.
Or you look at unreleased songs I’m playing like “Man I’m Turning Out to Be”, where I get vulnerable and open up about losing my dad. And that sort of brings its own moment. We’ve had people in tears and crying to that in the front row, which has been a surreal experience for me to see that my words and my story are connecting and obviously relating to people in that way.
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How has your approach to music and songwriting evolved as you’ve moved into adulthood?
Yeah, I’ve only recently gotten into songwriting. I’d done a little bit a few years ago, but the songwriting has always been a difficult thing for me. And we did a trip to Nashville last month and love the craft. I’m super excited to be involved in it. And I think it happens with anyone. You look at guys like Troy Cassar-Daley and the local scene, the older you get, the more stories you have and you take a more mature outlook on life. I mean, you can even see it in this early stage with the discography. You go look at, “Love in a Country Town”, which is with the first single I released off the last EP, it’s very pop-country,”Hey, I’m here” sort of thing. And you move into stuff that I’ve written now like “Man I’m Turning Out to Be”, which I’ve touched on which are emotional and vulnerable kind of stories. So I think it’s finding more and more ways to tell my personal stories which, in turn, [I] guess brings the audience into my life.
