Don your hats and boots for Almost Country at Fringe

Country music lovers rejoice! Don your hats and boots and ‘scoot down to Lyric’s Underground this February for Almost Country, from WAM Guitarist of the Year 2025, Donny Goodman. Featuring multi-instrumentalists playing guitar, banjo, fiddle, mandolin and double bass, expect to hear hits by Chappell Roan, Avicii and Olivia Newton-John played in a bluegrass style for one night only at Lyric’s Underground on Sunday, February 1, with tickets on sale now. BEC WELDON met with Donny Goodman to talk about the process of “countrifying” a song, the origins of bluegrass music and what we can look forward to at the show.

Hey Donny, thanks so much for joining us to chat about Almost Country! You’re back for another Fringe World season. What’s happened since we saw you for Fringe World 2024?

Since the last season I’ve not had a haircut, travelled all over the country playing shows, sung a heck of a lot of songs and had a real good time doing it!

Sounds amazing, but I think you’re being a bit modest! Last year you won the West Australian Music (WAM) Guitarist of the Year 2025! Congratulations, you must be stoked! Fresh off the back of that, you’re bringing a country music show to Fringe World, but with a twist. Tell us all about it!

Thanks so much! It is a great feeling to be recognised for a body of work. I’ve been fortunate enough to play so many styles of music, but one that resonates with me has always been country music. I have spent a lot of time listening to the early years of country music as of late, and I’m sure that so many other people will enjoy it as much as I do! The musical characteristics are pretty transferrable to any style, often with some very fun results.

You’re bringing country music and bluegrass to Perth! Could you explain bluegrass to readers who might not be familiar with it as a music genre?

Bluegrass is a folk style of country music. ‘Folk’ in this context means belonging to an area in the world, and that area is the Appalachian Region in the USA. It will often be upbeat or fast and feature instruments such as the acoustic guitar, banjo, bass, resonator guitar, fiddle and no drums! As well as this, there are usually multiple vocalists featured, with two or more singing in harmony. If you’ve seen films like Deliverance (Duelling Banjos) and O Brother, Where Art Thou?, you’d be familiar with this style of music. 

Taking artists from a range of modern music styles and giving them the country treatment is a great way to give old favourites a new flavour! What’s the process behind ‘countrifying’ a song?

Step 1. Simplify the chords. To quote Willie Nelson, “Country music is just one, four, five and the truth.”
Step 2. Change the instrumentation to suit the musical style and orchestrate accordingly.
Step 3. Mispronounce a lot of words with the most isolated regional accent you can think of!

That’s hilarious! Do you have a favourite genre to transform into country?

I think my favourite so far has been R&B. It’s almost the polar opposite in terms of historical context and where it comes from, but it seems to work extremely well!

For Almost Country, you’re joined on stage by a team of award-winning and acclaimed multi-instrumentalists. Tell us about the crew!

I’m joined by Daniel Drieberg on mandolin and fiddle. Dan will also be singing with me, and we have a lot of fun together. Adam Springhetti is one of my long-time musical collaborators and will be playing banjo and some acoustic guitar on top of some singing. Both of these fellas will be fresh out of the Tamworth Country Music Festival, playing with a few different people. Dan actually won the Golden Fiddle Award at this festival in 2025. Campbell Breakell is a fellow Wheatbelt boy and will be keeping us all in time on the double bass.

Sounds like a great team! Country music is enjoying a pretty big resurgence at the moment. Why do you think people are returning to the genre? 

I think that it was an easy genre to make fun of, to be honest. It had a big moment in the 90s but had already been around for a while before pop, R&B and rap really took over. All of the genres mentioned in this paragraph have common themes going throughout: Country—trucks, dirt roads, beer, my baby left me; R&B—usually either ‘I love you’ or ‘I hate you’; Rap—guns, money, women/men. Of all of these styles, country had been around the longest, and I think maybe it was its turn to have a rest. The country music being released in the last five to ten years seems to have a lot more relatable themes and also combines elements of rap, rock and R&B to an extent.

That’s so interesting. Now in an Australian context, we’re often very well known for our pub rock and indie work, but what’s the country scene like?

The country scene in Australia has always been strong. It absolutely pales in comparison to the big business that is done in America, but just about everyone would know who Slim Dusty, John Williamson, Lee Kernaghan and Kasey Chambers are. They haven’t been selling out stadiums, but all of these artists have travelled the country over several decades playing shows, writing songs and telling stories. The pathway that these legends have created leads more modern artists to pursue a genuine connection with audiences over a wide area!

What would you say to prospective audiences who may be considering the show among the huge Fringe offerings this year?

If you’re after something that is familiar but a bit different and full of surprises at the same time, this is the show for you! Our aim is to have fun and bring the audience along with us.

Thanks for chatting with us! Best of luck for the season ahead!

Thank you! Same to you!

Almost Country hits Lyric’s Underground on Sunday, February 1, 2026. Tickets are on sale now from fringeworld.com.au