Johnston City ask the bigger questions on ‘Girt By Sea’

Written by: Geoff Trio
Category: Music
Published: October 15, 2026

There's something about a good Australian rock song that goes beyond the guitars, the drums and a chorus you can sing along to. The best ones have something to say about who we are, where we've come from and the things we sometimes take for granted. For Hunter Valley outfit Johnston City, that tradition is alive and well on ‘Girt By Sea’, the second single from their forthcoming debut album, Decie’s Pride, due for release in November 2026 through Dashville Community Records.

Written by bandleader and Dashville local Daniel T Johnston, ‘Girt By Sea’ is a driving rock ballad that begins with a familiar situation: a parent trying to answer a child's questions about the world. It's a simple idea, but one that opens the door to something much bigger. Children have a wonderful habit of asking the questions adults stopped asking years ago, often exposing the strange contradictions and assumptions we've come to accept without much thought. And sometimes, in trying to explain things to them, we discover that we don't really understand the answers ourselves.

For Johnston, that realisation sits at the heart of the song. ‘Through the unfiltered questions of our children, we glimpse the absurdities of the lessons we once accepted without a second thought,’ he explains. ‘Their fearless curiosity shines a light on the blind spots of our generation, challenging the complacency and ignorance we never dared to confront.’

Even the title takes something familiar and turns it on its head. The phrase ‘girt by sea’, borrowed from the Australian national anthem, is one most of us have sung countless times, probably without stopping to consider what it actually means. It's the sort of expression that becomes so familiar it almost disappears into the background, until a child comes along and asks the obvious question.

‘Our home is girt by sea? What does that even mean?’ Johnston asks. ‘Our children need to ask the questions, but I have the same questions, and so it requires deep reflection and honesty, before providing the answers.’

There's a lot packed into that observation. Beyond the humour of a child questioning an old-fashioned expression is a broader reflection on the ideas, attitudes and beliefs passed from one generation to the next. We inherit so much of our understanding of the world without necessarily examining where it came from, and it often takes someone looking at things with fresh eyes to make us reconsider what we thought we knew.

It's thoughtful territory for a rock song, but Johnston City aren't approaching it with a quiet acoustic guitar and a whispered vocal. Their sound draws on the muscular, heartland rock tradition of Bruce Springsteen and Bob Seger, where strong melodies, driving rhythms and big choruses provide the foundation for stories about ordinary people and everyday life. There's a distinctly Australian character to what they do, but the musical influences reach back to an era when rock ’n’ roll was built around the energy of a band playing together.

What makes Johnston City particularly interesting is the way they combine that hard-driving approach with the sweeter, more intricate vocal harmonies associated with 1960s doo-wop. On paper, it might seem an unusual combination, but there's a natural connection between the two. Both traditions place enormous value on melody, emotion and the shared sound of voices coming together. Put that alongside a solid rhythm section and guitars with a bit of grit, and you've got music that can be powerful without losing its sense of warmth.

It's a sound that suits Johnston's songwriting. Rather than hiding the message beneath layers of production, the arrangements give the songs room to breathe while still delivering the kind of energy you'd expect from a proper rock band. There's a sense of conviction to the music, but also an understanding that a song needs to connect with people before it can make them think.

Coming out of the Hunter Valley's Dashville community, Johnston City are part of a regional music culture that has built its reputation on original songwriting, collaboration and a willingness to do things a little differently. Dashville has become an important home for independent Australian artists, providing a place where musicians can develop their sound, share ideas and build an audience outside the usual industry machinery. It's the sort of environment where a band like Johnston City can make music on its own terms, drawing on familiar influences without feeling the need to follow whatever happens to be fashionable.

‘Girt By Sea’ follows the release of the album's title track, ‘Decie’s Pride’, with both singles offering a glimpse of what to expect from the band's debut record. While the full album arrives in November, the band will be taking the new music on the road for a short run of launch shows, beginning at Bandon Grove Hall in Dungog on 1 November, followed by Mountain Culture in Katoomba on 8 November and the Horse & Jockey in Singleton on 14 November.

They're fitting places to hear a band whose music is grounded in community and the shared experience of live performance. There's something particularly satisfying about hearing heartland rock in a country hall or a regional pub, where the distance between the musicians and the audience is small enough for everyone to feel part of the same moment. It's the environment where songs like these can really find their feet.

And perhaps that's what makes ‘Girt By Sea’ such an interesting introduction to Johnston City's music. Beneath the driving guitars and big harmonies is a songwriter asking questions that many of us have probably avoided, not because they're particularly difficult to understand, but because we've grown so accustomed to the answers we've been given.

There's no suggestion that Johnston has everything figured out. In fact, the song seems to be making the opposite point. Sometimes the most useful thing we can do is admit that we don't know, listen to the questions being asked and have another look at the things we've always taken for granted.

It's a simple enough idea, but there's something refreshing about hearing it delivered with a bit of old-fashioned Australian rock ’n’ roll.

After all, sometimes it takes a kid asking one innocent question to remind the rest of us that we might still have a few things to learn.

‘Girt By Sea’ and ‘Decie’s Pride’ are available now through Bandcamp and streaming platforms. Johnston City's debut album, Decie’s Pride, is due for release in November 2026 through Dashville Community Records.