100% Home-Grown
100% Home-Grown talent heard nationally across the Community Radio Network
by Lea Steed, Highland FM 107.1
Highland FM’s 100% Home-Grown is dedicated to giving a voice to the rich diversity of contemporary Australian musicians and songwriters.
Local song-makers help tell our stories, contribute to our culture and give voice to our communities.
Local song-makers help tell our stories, contribute to our culture and give voice to our communities.
The 100% Home-Grown concept commenced March 2020 and focused exclusively on independent Australian music sourced from the AMRAP catalogue. The program also features music by local artists and song-makers for broadcasting on the twice weekly 100% Home-Grown program on Highland FM 107.1.
The initiative was recognised as supporting independent Australian musicians and was awarded the CBAA’s 2020 Most Outstanding Contribution to Australian Music Initiative.
The initiative was recognised as supporting independent Australian musicians and was awarded the CBAA’s 2020 Most Outstanding Contribution to Australian Music Initiative.
Highland FM realised how community radio can provide the momentum and exposure for independent Australian musicians to be heard, appreciated and enjoyed.
Located an hour and a half’s drive south of Sydney, the picturesque Southern Highlands is the home of Highland FM 107.1. The area is known for its beautiful vistas, wineries, fine food, variety of activities, eclectic mix of artists and artisans and we can now add, its amazing wealth of musical talent.
Heavily impacted by the pandemic, the last couple of years has been a difficult period for the music industry. With no government funding and most venues closed, song-makers and musicians struggled to survive, with many having to leave the industry.
Highland FM broadcast live in studio throughout the pandemic and took a leadership role in focusing on and bringing awareness to the importance of supporting the struggling local music industry. A few live interviews and on-air performances gained attention and momentum quickly grew. Local talent was literally knocking on the door and Highland FM took up the challenge.
With funding provided by a 2021 Community Broadcasting Foundation Grant, Highland FM built a high quality recording studio to be utilised as a unique community resource to support our local musicians.
Highland FM’s 100% Home-Grown Artist of the Month commenced September 2021. The featured monthly artist(s) are focused in interviews, recording sessions and their music is played throughout the month across all programs. Two sell out concerts followed at a local venue in December and March featuring the three previous 100% Home-Grown Artists each concert, with all proceeds from ticket sales going to the performers.
With so many singers, songwriters and musicians in our region, Highland FM and 100% Home-Grown aims to promote and support them in their quest for radio play and to achieve success. Highland FM's recording studio is in constant use and provides the resource for professionally mastered interviews and music for air-play and any time listening off the Highland FM Website. All recorded content is professionally produced by our own well known production manager and mastering engineer, Warren (Wazz) Barnett.
In November 2021 the Community Radio Network approached Highland FM to produce a pilot program containing a compilation of interviews and music recorded in our Studios. With an abundance of high quality content on file, a 100% Home-Grown pilot for the Community Radio Network was produced. Three more weekly one hour pilot programs followed and aired throughout the summer break, and now, 100% Home-Grown is set to be broadcast weekly across the Community Radio Network from April.
How wonderful it is for the featured artists and musicians to be showcased across Australia!
The 100% Home-Grown team being told they were the winner of the 2020 CBAA Award for Contribution to Australian Music!
Community Radio Is Making A Difference
The 100% Home-Grown initiative has kick-started the local music industry with all of our featured local artists now booked for gigs across the region.
Our December Artist of the Month, Sara Berki, a former local hairdresser who had never previously received air-play and performed live for the first time in our December concert, is now working and recording with well known Australian producer, Simon Johnson. Her music is being mastered by Grammy Award winning William Bowden.
Sara’s new single “Fallin Off The Heartline” has been picked up by Australia’s largest country music label, ABC Country Music and is currently in the Australian Country Music Top 40.
Sara said, “none of this would have happened without Highland FM’s 100% Home-Grown. Thank you for everything that you have done and for believing in me”.
May Sara be the first of many to achieve this level of success.
From woozy indigenous rock to feminist post punk, there’s plenty of great new 100% Home-Grown music to love in 2022.
For Community Radio Network Subscribers:
- 100% Home-Grown is available via DDN, FTP, On Demand and Live Satellite.
- When ordering the program look for '100 Percent Home Grown'
- The show plays live every Sunday at 16:00 AEST
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