West Australian singer-songwriter Justin Davies writes grounded country-blues songs about real life, old memories, missed chances and the humour found in the everyday. Raised in Donnybrook and now based in Fremantle, Davies brings together South West storytelling, blues-soaked guitar and a late-blooming songwriter’s eye for the moments that stay with us.
Music was always present in the Davies household. His father was in bands, his mother was a writer, his grandmother played piano and there was a family fondness for old jazz, blues and instruments with a bit of character. But while there was a piano in the house, classical lessons didn’t quite light the fire. The real spark came later, when his brother Todd brought home ZZ Top’s Eliminator and cranked it up. For Davies, that was the moment the electric guitar became impossible to ignore.
After school, Davies moved to Perth and spent years playing in cover bands, while also studying business and building a career outside music. Like many musicians, life took over for a while. Marriage, kids, work and responsibility pushed the guitar into the background. Then, after years away from regular playing, Davies found his way back to the instrument — first through a corporate band event at the Perth Convention Centre, then through Perth’s open mic scene.
That return proved to be more than a casual rekindling. Performing again reminded Davies how much he loved live music, but it also pushed him towards something he had not seriously considered before: writing his own songs. After an impromptu jam at the South Street Ale House, where a bass player, drummer and guitarist joined him on stage, someone suggested he should build a band around his own voice and material. It was the nudge he needed.
Davies joined the I Heart Songwriting Club and began developing a regular writing process. Since then, he has written more than 50 songs, drawing inspiration from everyday life, old relationships, travel, self-reflection and the small moments that carry bigger meaning. His songs often start with something simple — a delayed flight to Kalgoorlie, a drinking story, a Christmas reflection, a relationship that will not move forward, or the memory of a note passed in a school library — before opening into something more universal.
His recent releases, including Cloudy Thinking, Come To My Way Of Thinking and Stuck, were recorded with Peter Oats at Kitchen Cooked Studios in Fremantle. The songs have helped Davies find an audience across Australia and overseas, with airplay reaching listeners in country and independent music circles from Tamworth to Nashville. His songwriting has also earned recognition through a WAM Song of the Year nomination.
Live performance remains central to Davies’ music. Whether playing solo with an acoustic guitar or fronting Justin Davies & The Bush Bashers, he brings a relaxed, story-driven style to the stage — part country-blues songwriter, part pub storyteller, part South West kid still chasing the spark of a good song played loud. His shows draw on original material, road-tested covers and the humour that comes from winning over an audience one room at a time. The band name fits the spirit of the music: dusty, warm, slightly rough around the edges and proudly West Australian. As Davies puts it, he “grew up sideways on gravel driving a ute” — and that sense of movement, humour and place runs through the songs.
At the heart of Davies’ writing is a fascination with ordinary lives and the stories people carry. He is drawn to songs that feel lived-in rather than polished smooth — songs about memory, regret, gratitude, longing and the strange little turns that shape a life. His music sits comfortably in the country-blues tradition, but it is unmistakably local: South West roots, Fremantle grit and a songwriter who has come to the craft later in life with plenty to say.
Grounded songs for all kinds of folk. It took Justin Davies a few years to get started, but now that it is rolling, it still feels like it has only just begun.