Jim HaynesOAM (born 1946, Sydney)[2] is an Australian entertainer, bush poet, historian and songwriter.[3][4] As of May 2025, he has published more than 30 books, all of which focus on Australian history, Australiana and bush poetry.[5][6] As a musician, he is best known for the songs "Mow Ya Lawn" (1989), "Don't Call Wagga Wagga Wagga" (1994) and "Since Cheryl Went Feral" (1997).[7][8][9] In 2016 he received a Medal of the Order of Australia for service to the performing arts as part of the Australia Day Honours.[5][1]
While teaching in Inverell in 1977, Haynes formed the Bandy Bill & Co Bush Band.[6][9][3] He left the group but returned in 1985.[9] They recorded Modern Day Swaggies (1986)[14] and Spinnin' Yarns, both on the indie label Hadley Records.[citation needed] At the same time, he worked weekends at 2NZ radio station and began contributing to the show Australia All Over on ABC.[6][15] He moved back to Sydney in 1988 and released "Mow Ya Lawn", a comedy song, on Festival Records the following year.[9][16] It was a finalist for a 1991 Tamworth Songwriting Association Award.[17] Its B-side was a song about airline deregulation in Australia.[9] He signed onto Festival's Kookaburra label in 1990 and subsequently wrote That Rugby League Album, which was the label's first release.[18][19] In 1991, he and Russell Hannah released Sleepers and Rails, also on Kookaburra, an album of "railway music" inspired by rail transport in Australia. Its tracks featured other Australian folk singers include Ted Egan, Judy Small, Eric Bogle and John Broomhall.[18]
In 1994, Massive Records released the song "Don't Call Wagga Wagga Wagga", which was co-written and produced by Greg Champion and performed by Haynes, Champion, and Ted Egan.[8][20][21] The song charted[which?] at number 2[citation needed] and Warner/Chappell Music then signed Haynes to a deal that included both songwriting and publishing.[21] "Since Cheryl Went Feral", a single about Cheryl Kernot, spent 26 weeks in the country music charts,[which?] five of which were at number one.[3][22] In 1994, he was also involved in the Bridge of Love Project along with other country artists to raise awareness of children's issues, such as homelessness, in Australia.[23][24] The 1995 album Here I Am was composed primarily of songs written or co-written by Haynes.[25][24]Felicity Urquhart made a guest appearance on the album.[24] In 1997, he released It's Nothing Serious, also produced by Champion, on ABC Music.[8][26][20] Haynes has toured with artists including Slim Dusty, Adam Brand, Melinda Schneider, Lee Kernaghan Greg Champion and Beccy Cole.[3][27][20] In 2012, he released an album of new songs, Galah Occasion, featuring duets with Wayne Horsburgh and Melanie Dyer.[28]
Haynes spent 15 years touring schools around the country with his children's educational show Singabout Australia.[3][24] Singabout Australia is also the name of his label, on which he has released several of his albums and at least one book.[29] Haynes served on the board of the Country Music Association of Australia for 15 years and hosted the Big Bush Brekky Variety Show at the Tamworth Country Music Festival for 32 years until his retirement in 2017.[6][29][30] Haynes also co-founded the Stone The Crows Festival in Wagga Wagga with Grant Luhrs and Chrissy Eustace.[3] It was held annually from 2013 to 2022 and was host to the gReyVee Awards, which recognised bush poets over 50.[31][32][33]
Poetry and history
Haynes wrote his first book in the early 1990s[12] and has since published more than 30 books. His first publications were bush poetry and centered on the imaginary town of Weelabarabak and its residents.[25][34] This included I'll Have Chips!, which he debuted at the Tamsworth Festival in the mid-1990s.[25][20] It won Book of the Year at the Australian Bush Laureate Awards in 1996.[35]ABC Books published his short story compilation Memories of Weelabarabak in 1999.[36] His subsequent books focused on Australian history, including the anthology The Book of Australian Popular Rhymed Verse (2008), which the Australian Bush Poets Association claimed was the "largest collection of Aussie rhymed verse ever", exceeding 800 pages.[37] It was nominated for an award in the Australian Rhymed Verse (Book Form) category at the Tamworth Country Music Festival.[20] He won Book of the Year awards at the Bush Laureates for An Australian Heritage of Verse (2001), An Australian Treasury of Popular Verse (2004) and The Book of Australian Popular Rhymed Verse (2009).[35] Haynes also wrote a weekly column called Aussie Verse for the Australasian Post until the paper's closure in 2004.[citation needed]
His other books cover a wide range of topics and include All Aboard – Tales of Australian Railways (2004), On All Fronts – Australia's WW2 (2010), Australia's Most Unbelievable True Stories (2013) and Great Australian Rascals, Rogues and Ratbags (2022).[38][39][40] Haynes joined 2UE's George and Paul show, hosted by George Moore and Paul B. Kidd, in 2001 as an Australiana expert.[11][3] He remained on the show until it ended in 2019.[11] In the 2020s, he has appeared on Overnights each week to talk about Australian history.[41][42] Haynes also leads History and Heritage tours in different parts of Australia through Travelrite.[10][11]
Haynes arranged the first Bush Poetry Fireside Festival in 1993 and co-founded the Australian Bush Laureate Awards in 1995. Both events are held annually at the Longyard Hotel in Tamworth.[29][34][25]
1 2 3 "Listen to the beat". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. 29 December 2001. p.113. Retrieved 16 May 2025– via newspapers.com.
1 2 3 4 "Don't Call Wagga Wagga Wagga!". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, New South Wales. 22 December 1997. p.1. Retrieved 19 May 2025– via newspapers.com.
↑ Mangan, John (15 December 1989). "Singles". The Age. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. p.38. Retrieved 19 May 2025– via newspapers.com.
↑ "1991 TSA awards finalists". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. 13 January 1991. p.150. Retrieved 19 May 2025– via newspapers.com.
↑ "Publisher gives recording a spin". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. 18 March 1990. p.177. Retrieved 19 May 2025– via newspapers.com.
↑ "Tamworth Inc tunes up again". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. 18 January 1997. p.5. Retrieved 19 May 2025– via newspapers.com.
1 2 Jarvis, Susan (30 May 1993). "Yarns at the Longyard". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. p.152. Retrieved 16 May 2025– via newspapers.com.
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