Country-folk musician Georgia State Line has released her debut album more than a year after finishing it.
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As the coronavirus pandemic ripped through the world and devastated the entertainment industry, the singer-songwriter from Bendigo - real name Georgia Delves - decided to wait to put the album out.
It has been worth the wait with the album - titled In Colour - soaring to the top of charts following its September 24 release.
"It's been nice since we had the record waiting to be released for some time.
"We sat on it for a year as the pandemic threw out plans out and had a label - Cheating Hearts Records - come on board and work with us from mid year. It has been a nice pairing."
Delves wrote the songs for In Colour while living out of a van and travelling around the country in 2018. She recorded it in 2019 before the pandemic threw out plans to release and tour the album.
"I had packed up the share house I was in and finished my job and toured most of that year," she said. "The songs were written during that time and when I got back got back we started recording in 2019.
"It was definitely an experience, I saw a lot of country and things I wouldn't have seen otherwise but (living out of a van) is very romanticised. It's a a bit talked up but it was a worthwhile time and I guess these songs written during that time, I feel like they lived a few lives.
"(The songs) are just about being happy with what you have and kind of accepting what have in life, even if not where want to be."
Delves grew up in Bendigo before moving to Melbourne to study music.
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As a teenager she studied classical voice and violin before taking an interest in songwriting.
"I've always been drawn to music, it's something that brings a lot of joy. I don't find anything else nearly as fulfilling," she said. "I started songwriting when I was 13 or 14 after I was given a Brandi Carlile CD.
From that I was inspired by strong female-led bands standing up and owning their space and telling stories.
- Georgia State Line
"It was a natural journey from having great foundations and skills with music. My grandparents love country music and were always playing that music. Even if I wasn't seeking it out, it was subliminally drilled into me."
Delves songwriting and musicianship skills kept growing and she turned to folk music before progressing to country.
She has since adopted the stage moniker of Georgia State Line and performed with a band. The current line up of Patrick Wilson, Laura Baxter and Tom Brookes have been with her for three years.
"They are very collaborative. I write the songs but we collaborate in taking the songs to arrange them for live performances," she said. "I'm grateful (to the band). They are equally accomplished musicians in their own right."
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Looking ahead as Victorian re-opens under a vaccinated economy, Delves is prepared to be patient in planning an album launch and tour.
"It feels pretty surreal at moment and I am not in any rush," she said. "I have learnt the value of patience through the pandemic.
"I am hoping to get along to key festivals like Tamworth but I am not in a rush for shows. We will launch the album when we can and do a tour."
Georgia State Line's In Colour is out now. For more details visit georgiastateline.com
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