A YEAR on from the release of her debut album Love & Lovely Lies, Imogen Clark still calls Hawkesbury home.
The 22-year-old singer-songwriter spent seven of the last 12 months travelling to promote her record, but she was always happy to come back to her “special place”.
“I’ve lived here my whole life in this same house in Bowen Mountain. I love living here. We have a beautiful view of the Sydney basin and as a kid growing up I got to experience that view every morning. I actually ended up writing a lot of my songs on the balcony here,” she told the Gazette.
Imogen is signed with Universal Music’s Lost Highway record label, and is currently working on a second album - due out in the new year - with Mark Lizotte (aka Johnny Diesel) as producer.
She has a CMC nomination for New Oz Artist Of The Year under her belt, and has also been recognised at the Australian Songwriters and Tamworth Songwriters Awards.
But despite all the hype, she’s still a Hawkesbury girl at heart, and credits growing up here with the “great start” she had - not only in life, but in her career as a musician.
“I know a lot of artists who grew up in the city and it was difficult for them to get traction because you’re one person trying to stand out from the noise. But here, people were welcoming. I had a place that nurtured me and encouraged me,” said Imogen, citing the Fitzroy Hotel and Sassafras Cafe as her first regular gig venues.
When describing Hawkesbury to out-of-towners, Imogen says it has “a bit of everything”, and that’s what she loves about it.
“It’s such an interesting town. It’s big, but it has a small-town mentality. It’s a rural town by and large, but it’s got the mountains, farmland, and little old towns like Windsor where you’re transported to another place,” she said.
“Everyone knows each other and it’s friendly. I grew up with that influencing my mannerisms and how I behave towards other people - it’s made me talk to people in the street! But we’re also just outside of Sydney so it’s a perfect sweet spot between the country town and the edge of the big city.”
Locals can catch Imogen playing at the Hawkesbury Hotel on Sunday, August 27.
Follow Imogen’s news at facebook.com/imogenclark.music.
- Imogen Clark is one of the ‘featured faces’ in the We Are Hawkesbury: 100 Faces Photographic Exhibition from June 29 to July 2 at the Richmond School of Arts. The exhibition is open 10am until 3pm each day, and entry is via gold coin donation which will go to the Hawkesbury Living Cancer Trust.