Contact your local Christian / community radio station for broadcast times.
This week’s Artist Profiles are as follows:
JJ ARV
Adelaide SA
Alt contemporary, Indi-folk
J J Arv is a singer songwriter who has written throughout her life starting at the age of 16years old. She has certainly been on a journey from broken and lost identity to where she is now, a place of confidence in who she is and was always made to be.
See more at: JJ Arv
CRAIG LLOYD
Gisborne VIC
Country
Craig Lloyd is a multi-award winning Country Music Singer and Songwriter.
It’s safe to say that Craig Lloyd has led a colourful life. He began his adult career as a Police Officer, working the streets of London before advancing to Scotland Yard. Seeking new experiences, he relocated to Australia, worked for the police force, ambulance services, then the Melbourne Metro Fire Brigade. He met his now wife, had a family, towed a caravan exploring Australia, before settling in rural Victoria in a small country town called Alexandra. This is where he discovered his ‘other side’ and after a ‘Taste of Tamworth’ concert in the local town hall spoke with Lyn Bowtell who encouraged him to apply to the Academy of Country Music. He was accepted and headed off to start his newest adventure – country music.
‘It’s a wonderful new phase of my life. You won’t find many country singers in the British Police force, none the less at Scotland Yard’ laughs Craig, who now weaves some of his venturesome moments into his songs.
That he is influenced by his Country music heroes like Garth Brooks, Kenny Rogers and George Strait is obvious, not just in his style, but also in the way he approaches a song. Whether it is his own personal narrative, commentaries on others’ lives, or completely fictional, Craig is all about the story.
Reminiscing, Craig says that it wasn’t until very recently that he realised where his love of country music came from… secretly listening to ‘Whispering Bob Harris’ the king of country radio in England, in the dark, on an old tape player, under his pillow, hiding from his parents.
Craig has already supported and worked with Australian artists including Fanny Lumsden, Lachlan Bryan (The Wildes), Lyn Bowtell, Roger Corbett and Dobe Newton (The Bushwackers), Catherine Britt, Carter & Carter, Dom Italiano and Elisha Francesca.
With his debut album ‘The Other Side of Me’ released at the 2023 Tamworth Country Music Festival, his current radio single “I Call Australia Home’ which has reached Number 1 on a number of Country Charts, gives us a wonderful taste of Craig’s story, with soulful vocals and great musicianship that takes us on an emotional journey.
Craig is the “National Male Artist of the Year”, awarded by the Tasmanian Independent Country Music Association (TICMA), and earlier this year Craig’s Single ‘Take The Wheel’ was awarded the Country Ballad of the Year 2023, by the Tamworth Songwriters Association. Co-written with Golden Guitar winning artists Merelyn and David Carter (Carter & Carter), Craig was recognised at the presentation of this National award at the Tamworth Country Music Festival.
See more at: Craig Lloyd
CLARA RHODEN
Melbourne VIC / Taiwan
Pop, worship
Clara is an Australian-born Taiwanese singer-songwriter and producer at Lifespeaks Studio.
Clara has been playing piano and singing since the age of 5, she learned viola (10), guitar (12), bass and drums while still a teenager. She has performed in various orchestras, choirs and bands for over 30 years.
She started playing in church from the age of 14 and has been music director at various churches in Australia (Presbyterian, Independent Chinese Church, AOG) and now at Future Generation in Taiwan. Clara also played guitar in the Planetshakers church band for a number of years in Melbourne.
Her production credits span many different genres including Lofi Hip Hop (Raifu Supikusu), Chillout (Lifespeaks), Christian Kids Songs (Lifespeaks Kids), Mandarin worship (Future Generation), individual artists (Evelyn Chong) and her own music both in English (Clara Rhoden) and Mandarin.
Clara is passionate about encouraging creative people to use their gifts for the glory of God and to show the world the glory of heaven through their gifts.
See more at: Clara Rhoden