Essi is a self-made country-pop artist from rural Queensland, blending honest storytelling with warm, nostalgic melodies. Raised in Goondiwindi, she began singing to the cows from the back of a hay feeder and has since gone on to perform at Gympie Muster, Tamworth Country Music Festival, and Sofar Sounds Sydney. Her debut single “Nostalgic” was named the #1 Country Song in a 2025 Nashville-based International Songwriting Competition and featured on Apple Music editorial playlists. A 2025 Channel 7 Young Achiever nominee, Essi has received national airplay on KIX Country and Australian Country Radio, and continues to release music independently, including her self-funded debut album due for completion in September 2025. With roots in country and a sound that touches pop, soul, and folk, Essi is carving out a space of her own.

Essi is a self-made country-pop artist with emotionally honest songwriting and a voice that’s as raw as it is warm. Raised in the rural town of Goondiwindi, Queensland, she found her love for music early, singing Fleetwood Mac songs to cows from the back of a hay feeder. At 16, she joined her vocal coach’s corporate band, and later opened solo for Kate Miller-Heidke on the Sunshine Coast in 2014.

Now based in Queensland, Essi performs regularly across the Sunshine Coast and beyond, including a recent Sofar Sounds show in Sydney. Her self-funded debut album will complete its rollout in September 2025, following a run of singles that have earned national and international recognition. “Nostalgic” was named the #1 Country Song in the 2025 Nashville-based International Songwriting Competition and featured on Apple Music editorial playlists. “Cowboy Crowd” was selected in the Top 150 of the Listen Up Music Songwriting Prize, with semi-finalist results pending.

Essi has played major festivals including Gympie Muster, Tamworth Country Music Festival, and Brisbane Ekka, and supported Melanie Dyer and Caitlyn Shadbolt on tour. She’s received airplay on KIX Country, Australian Country Radio, and local stations across the Sunshine Coast, and was nominated for a Channel 7 Young Achiever Award earlier this year.

Much of her debut album was recorded in a home studio with long-time friend and now Nashville-based producer Trentan Kruger and included “Nostalgic” which was written and recorded with Liam Quinn. She has also collaborated with Aidan Hogg (ARIA Award Winner), Dan Gleyzer (Noah Cyrus, Eddie Benjamin), and Drew Pearson (Grammy Award Winner, Kesha), and participated in APRA AMCOS’s 321 Sessions and songwriting residencies in Bali and Mexico.

Essi’s music is built on contrast—softness and grit, romance and reality, small-town roots and global ambition. With her debut project nearing its final chapter, she’s only just getting started.