The ABC celebrates Ausmusic month

1st November 2024

Over the past 25 years, Ausmusic Month has been celebrated widely across the ABC and this November is no different.

Across the entire month it’s all Aussie - all music - all the time, with documentaries, specials and live concerts featuring some of the nation’s biggest music icons.

Turn on and tune in to content across ABC iview and ABC TV, ABC Family and ABC Entertains, ABC listen, triple j, ABC Local Radio, ABC Classic, ABC Jazz, ABC Country and ABC digital and social.

Ausmusic Month content highlights include:  

Take 5 With Zan Rowe – Season 3, Episode 6 – Casey Donovan  

Premieres Tuesday 5 November at 8.30pm on ABC TV. Stream the entire season on ABC iview. Hear Take 5 with Zan Rowe on Double J each Friday from 10am and anytime on the ABC listen app.

Casey Donovan is a powerhouse performer who brings joy to every stage and screen she graces. It’s impossible not to smile in her presence. Growing up in the public eye, hers is a story of resilience, vulnerability and finding her place. 

Spicks & Specks

Continues Sundays at 7.30pm. Stream more episodes on ABC iview.

There’s a whole new g-g-g- generation of musicians to celebrate, and fresh comedians to bring the good times. Host Adam Hills will bring alive the sounds of music trivia on Australia’s most popular music quiz show. And see that girl Myf Warhurst steal the scene, opposite Alan Brough who will take your breath away with his music knowledge. 

Midnight Oil: The Hardest Line

Premieres Tuesday 12 November at 8.30pm on ABC TV and ABC iview.

From their 70’s punk rock roots right through until their recent farewell tour, this film tells the previously untold story of an uncompromising Australian rock band whose musical activism broadened the social and political perceptions of multiple generations.

 

Midnight Oil’s often controversial music has narrated Australia’s lives and times for over 40 tumultuous years - grappling constantly with who we are and who we want to be.

 

Countdown: 50 Years On

Premieres Saturday 16 November at 7.30pm on ABC TV and ABC iview.

On 8 November 1974, Countdown burst into loungerooms all over the nation and set the music scene on fire. 50 years on, the ABC is inviting you back to the party to celebrate the little Aussie show that became a global phenomenon.

Hosted by Myf Warhust with Tony Armstrong, the epic night of music will feature Countdown heavy hitters Daryl Braithwaite, Joe Camilleri, Kate Ceberano, GANGgajang, Marcia Hines, Grace Knight, Russell Morris, Leo Sayer and Ross Wilson, as well as contemporary legends Electric Fields, Kate Miller-Heidke, Nooky, Regurgitator and Katy Steele reimagining the classic Countdown hits.


Headliners

Premieres Tuesday 19 November at 8pm on ABC TV and stream all episodes on ABC iview.

A celebration of music and inclusion, this raw, candid and heartwarming series showcases the remarkable talents of musicians with a disability who have until now, mostly been excluded from Australia’s mainstream music landscape. 

 

Musician and fervent campaigner for inclusion Elly-May Barnes, along with rock royalty, Jimmy Barnes, Ella Hooper and Tim Rogers guide the two bands through their rehearsals ahead of a sold-out iconic music festival creating a performance of a lifetime all in seven weeks.


rage Ausmusic Month Specials

Saturdays at 10.30am to midday and 11.30pm to 5am and Sundays 5am to 6am throughout November.  Stream more episodes on ABC iview.

Join Missy Higgins, Icehouse and more Aussie music icons as they line up their favourite music videos on rage. ABC Entertains will also be digging into the archives to bring you their most coveted and sought-after rage Vault Guest Programs each Friday night during November.

 

J Awards

Nominees were announced this morning via triple j, winners announced via triple j and Double J socials on Thursday 14 November.  

Celebrating 20 years, this year’s J Awards will once again crown Australia’s best in five categories: Australian Album of the Year, Unearthed Artist of the Year, Double J Australian Artist of the Year, Australian Music Video of the Year and Australian Live Act of the Year, with winners voted for by those in the know – our on-air teams.

 

triple j’s Like A Version

Every Friday at around 8am throughout November on triple j or the ABC listen app.

The idea of Like A Version is pretty simple. We invite a musician or band into our studios, tell them to bring their instruments along, stick microphones in front of them and ask them to play one of their own compositions as well as a song they love by someone else. And this Ausmusic month we’ll be featuring Aussie acts to support our local talent.  

 

Live At The Wireless

Sundays at 6pm throughout November on triple j, Mondays at 6pm on Double J or the ABC listen app.

triple j and Double J have recorded live music around the country to bring live acts direct to your speakers, direct from festivals to stadiums, sweaty pubs to some of Australia's finest venues. This Ausmusic Month features all Aussie acts including Lime Cordiale, Ball Park Music, Sarah Blasko and more.

 

Ausmusic T-shirt Day

All day, Thursday 28 November.

The annual event celebrates Aussie music and raises critical funds for the Australian music industry via Support Act. Hit the merch site of your favourite Aussie band or artist, grab a tee and join triple j in showing your support.

 

Artists In Residence

Sundays from 3pm on Double J or on the ABC listen app.

Throughout Ausmusic Month Jebediah and Bob Evans frontman Kevin Mitchell will host Aussie artists Josh Pyke, The Superjesus’ Sarah McCleod, The Grates’ Patience Hodgson and Jebediah bandmate Vanessa Thornton as they chat about Australian music and spin a few tracks.

ABC Radio

Celebrating the icon that is Countdown, Countdown In Your Town are local events headed to Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth and Newcastle throughout Ausmusic Month. Alongside fan favourite ABC Radio presenters, the live events will feature bands playing iconic hits from the Countdown era.

Across the country ABC Radio will be broadcasting Countdown’s Top 20 Greatest Moments on Saturday 9 November at 6pm AEDT. Hosted by ABC Radio Sydney’s James Valentine, the broadcast will celebrate some of the most iconic show moments from Whispering Jack and the Material Girl to ABBA, Iggy Pop and more. 

And each Monday we’ll also be celebrating Ausmusic Mondays where the playlist will consist of 100% Australian music.

ABC Classic

ABC Classic will be broadcasting a stellar range of Australian made music across November including a celebration of composers and artists Margaret Sutherland, Nat Bartsch, soprano and composer Deborah Cheetham Fraillon AO (Yorta Yorta/Yuin), including a special Drive Live broadcast for her 60th birthday, and The Goldner Quartet.

The Classic Choir Hour will showcase live performances from choirs around the country, while The Musical Show and The Game Show are all featuring Aussie content.

 

ABC Jazz

Expect to hear new albums from Jenna Cave, Lucy Clifford, Eucalyptus Treeo, Oscar Bruten and a new offering of The Best of ABC Jazz ’24 each Friday. We’ll also be celebrating Australian artists in residence every Tuesday, The Dinner Setwith Monica Tapaga for your Friday night dinners, Jazztrack Live with Mal Stanely on Saturdays revisiting epic Australian jazz performances and recent Aussie releases during Upbeat with James Valentine.

 

ABC Country

It’s an all Aussie artist playlist to kick off Ausmusic Month on Friday 1 November and we’ll be continuing the theme all month long by only adding Australian artists to our playlist for the month of November.

 

ABC Ausmusic Month Collections

Still can’t get enough of the outstanding Aussie artists? ABC iview has everything at your fingertips including Going Country, Knowing The Score, Making Muriel and Nick Cave & Warren Ellis at Hanging Rock.   

 

Digital

Across Double J, triple j, triple j Unearthed, ABC Classic and ABC Jazz, you’ll discover a bevy of Ausmusic Month content. From new music videos to interviews with all your favourite Australian artists plus deep dives into the history of Indigenous hip hop and who should be featured on your high rotation list, we’ve got you sorted for both long and short reads.