Michael Waugh

“When Michael Waugh opens his mouth, you should listen”. Andrew McMillen – The Australian

“As he does so rewardingly right across The Weir, Waugh shapes and colours his songs with the kind of unique Australian qualities associated with Tim Winton, Perry Keyes and Paul Kelly.”
Rhythms Magazine

“Another masterclass in songwriting from Michael Waugh” Shane Nicholson

“The Weir” is a lyrical and musical tour de force. These songs have few equals in the current Australian music scene. Eric Bogle

It was on my third listen to 'Warragul Police' that I came undone, at the second mention of scrambled eggs when dad meets the cops at the screen door. I’m crying, reaching for my hanky and the cd player to play it again! Brian Nankervis

Michael’s ability - his gift - is to take tiny, corner-of-the-eye, ordinary moments and sing them into something significant - powerful and memorable and moving. In the cracked earth of The Weir, Michael Waugh has unearthed rare treasures indeed. Colin Buchanan


Michael Waugh’s new album The Weir reaches up from the dried, cracked heart of Gippsland’s irrigation reservoir - Lake Glenmaggie - asking what it means to grow up Australian. It is family ‘carguments’ on long holiday drives to see the big things of Australia, mozzie-bitten itches of first summer loves, Meldrum-fuelled familiarity of Aussie rock classics, and the lived-in love of dinner with your partner in front of Neighbours. But it is also about what lies underneath – our underbelly laid bare by the drought; the distances that drive us apart, the economic devastation of rural communities, the death-wish of boys in country towns, the spectres of colonisation, racism and homophobia.

The Weir is Michael Waugh’s third album. It follows The Asphalt & The Oval (winner 2018 The Age Music Victoria Awards ‘Best Folk and Roots Album’) and 2016’s What We Might Be (Golden Guitar Award nomination 2017) and is Michael’s third studio project with multiple ARIA and Golden Guitar award producer winning Shane Nicholson.

Michael Waugh gives a profound new voice to the Australian experience. His insightful storytelling cuts to the heart of everyday life. It is honest, emotionally brave and compelling in its beauty. His insightful tributes to friends, family and parenthood are simultaneously deeply personal and nationally recognisable; audiences see their own brothers, parents, pubs, rivers, struggles and joys reflected in the faces of those characters who live large in Michael's songs.

The Weir - out now on Compass Bros Records through Universal Music Australia.