Counting Our Lucky Stars
Despite the highs and lows of the last couple of years, I feel like my songwriting has been truly blessed. In fact, music has been officially saving me since January 2020.
In the past two years, I’ve released three number one debut singles on iTunes (Some Loving Left To Do, Stop Time With A Kiss and Silent Night, River Of Stars), been nominated for another two Hollywood Music in Media Awards (Some Loving and Stop Time), won the Spiritual Category of the Australian Songwriters Association (ASA) Competition with my dear friend Renee Jonas (pictured here) with our song Glorious Failures – and picked up a gong in the Lyrics Category of this year’s Tamworth Songwriters Association’s Contest for The Heart You Break The Hardest, a song I co-wrote with another beautiful friend from across the waves, Elena Giordano. Both these wins were dreams come true – and sparkled like jewels in the darkness of the pandemic.
Amazingly, however, it doesn’t stop there. With genius producer and multiple Golden Guitar winner Matt Fell, I’ve created a couple of albums’ worth of songs and performed in three beautiful videos under the direction of the fabulous Michael Carpenter, also putting together another gorgeous lyric video for Stop Time With A Kiss featuring my utterly gorgeous friends and family!!! I shot a beachside music clip for Stephen Hawking Wants You To with Cheap Video’s Jonathan Sequiera … and was thrilled when this very special song, which won so many awards and nominations in 2018, morphed into a dance remix co-created with the multi-talented Adie Hannan. In keeping with the Songwriting Never Lets Me Down vibe, it has been nominated as a Top 30 finalist in no less than four categories of the forthcoming ASA songwriting competition (so stay tuned!!!).
I’ve performed at Tamworth, sung live on 2TM radio, given literally dozens of radio interviews around Australia and my songs have made appearances on the AMRAP metro and country charts. My music has featured on the iTunes Best sellers page and even, in the case of my soon-to-be-released new album Turquoise, zipped to the top of the singer-songwriter pre-order page. I’ve been interviewed by print and digital publications around the world and my songs played on countless internet and community radio stations across the land. I’ve met some amazing people and had life-changing conversations about music and Australia, especially its beautiful beating country heartland, that will stay with me forever. And through it all – and best of all – those I love and who are loved by me, have cheered me on and encouraged me in ways that have taught me so much not just about the power of music to bring people together, but the power of heart.
Because this is the true gold in what I do.
I’m an independent musician which is genuinely astounding to me – and I feel so lucky to be able to pursue this epic, glorious, often storm-wrecked quest with every atom of love and passion in my veins and be answerable to no-one but my own muse. But I know it’s just a cry in the wind without someone to listen to it. And in the darkness of the last few years, you have listened to me and heard my stories and the whispers – and the joys – of my heart with such love and acceptance and understanding. It has given me such an incredible sense of light. And I hope you feel I have heard you too. Because this, more than anything, is why I was put on earth to sing and write music. It’s so our stories can be told, no matter who we are, and turned into the beauty they always deserved to be.
Thank-you for your love and support!!! Thank-you for the music!!! And thank-you for taking the time to travel with me on this crazy, amazing journey to Song Mountain. Every moment is a blast – and we still have some impressive ranges to climb 🙂 In the meantime, if you’d like to have a listen to what I’ve been up to over the last couple of years, pre-orders for my first full length album, Turquoise, are available now on iTunes and I’d love it if you could help me get into the charts on release day by following the link below and purchasing your copy as soon as you possibly can. It comes out on Monday June 13 (omg so exciting) and is my first full-length Album – 12 songs in all. It has an alternative country vibe but is also about the simple things – living passionately in the moment, honoring the earth and the people who are important to us – and choosing wherever possible to be happy. And guess who wrote the title track Turquoise with me? My oyster shot shooting, songwriting sister Renee!!! Watch this space for more exciting news to come!!!!
Susan Muranty, May 27, 2022
https://itunes.apple.com/au/album/turquoise/1618948334?app=itunes
Caption: Songwriting Sisters Celebrating With Oyster Shots at Tamworth 2022.