Music Track Of The Month: "Lighting Fires" by Caitlin Harnett

If you like your music mellow, acoustic, with an almost folk-like feel, Caitlin Harnett’s “Lighting Fires” is likely to appeal to you. Caitlin has a distinctive sound owing to her raw vocals and somewhat imperfect pitch and diction, which makes her music so unique and compelling.

Listen to Lighting Fires

So who is Caitlin Harnett?

2009 has been a busy year for delicate Sydney Singer/Songwriter Caitlin Harnett. Caitlin released her debut EP “Tiny Spark” which was recorded with Matt Fell (Wes Carr, Paul Greene, Tania Bowra) at Love Hz Studio. The independently released EP features five beautifully crafted original songs and a lilting version of the Johnny Cash and June Carter classic Jackson.

Caitlin is just 19 years old, but the maturity and credibility of her songwriting has quickly captured the attention of audiences and music industry insiders. Caitlin won the Young Songwriter Award at the Apollo Bay Music Festival and performed in the fringe section of the Port Fairy Folk Festival. After establishing a presence on the Sydney live scene with regular shows, Caitlin was signed to a publishing deal with Mushroom Music Publishing.

The EP has achieved great success with four of her original songs being used in prime time Australian Commercial television programs. Another song will soon feature in an upcoming Australian film. Earlier this year, Caitlin was shortlisted for the prestigious APRA Professional Development Awards and toured as support for Karl Broadie, The Wildes, Paul Greene and The Huckleberry Swedes.

Caitlin has a natural stage presence that draws you in and a beautiful voice that compels you to listen. Her performances reveal a wisdom and warmth that belies her youth. Hard to categorise, her songs have the lilt of folk, the honesty of country, a touch of pop and suggests early-life exposure to somebody’s really good record collection.

What was the inspiration behind Lighting Fires?

Wow, that’s a hard question! I wrote “Lighting Fires” quite a while ago. I remember at the time I was feeling really inspired from a lot of books and films that I had seen. I liked the idea of putting myself in an imaginary situation and writing about it so that’s basically where that song came from! I find a lot of things I write become more relevant to my life months later. It’s weird.

What can we expect from Caitlin Harnett in the future?

I don’t even know what I expect to happen in the future, but I hope that I can keep making records and playing music because that’s where my soul is. It’s the only thing I want to do! This quote pretty well sums it up for for me: “I think I should have no other mortal wants, if I could always have plenty of music. It seems to infuse strength into my limbs and ideas into my brain. Life seems to go on without effort, when I am filled with music.” – George Eliot.