ARTIST BIO

SIXTH-generation Tasmanian musician and singer-songwriter Jonathon Coleman is preparing to release the debut album by his musical alter ego, Bully Hay.

Set for release in April 2024, Black Dogs and Songbirds features 11 original tracks written and arranged by Coleman before being produced and mixed by Jeff Martin from acclaimed Canadian rock trio The Tea Party and mastered by Joseph Carra (Crystal Mastering). A self-taught musician (guitar, bass, ukulele, mandolin, Irish bouzouki and harmonica), Coleman has been writing and performing music since he was a teenager, playing solo and amongst various bands, including a family band (The Colemans) alongside his father John Coleman, brother Christopher and sister Susannah.

He has toured the East Coast of Australia and performed at events including the Festival of Voices, the Taste of Tasmania and Mona Foma, and supported the likes of Monique Brumby, Dead Letter Circus, Ash Grunwald and The Wolfe Brothers.

However, with a young family and business commitments, Coleman had to put music on the backburner for a while.

Now he’s back, having matured as a musician and found his own true sound through the Bully Hay project – the name is a tribute to his great-uncle, who was one of the Rats of Tobruk in World War II.

In late 2022 Coleman was introduced to one of his musical idols – Jeff Martin, the frontman of Canadian rock band The Tea Party, who offered to produce and perform on Bully Hay’s debut album.

The diverse songs on Black Dogs and Songbirds are firmly anchored in the Tasmanian landscape and sensibility, with a unifying lyrical thread that reflects Coleman’s deep love of the state’s coastal areas, particularly the south-east.