Joy McKean blazed a trail across country music in Australia. Alongside Slim Dusty, in a career that spanned almost 80 years, she escorted country songwriting from its romanticised hillbilly origins, into a mature and grounded reflection of life.

As an advocate and organiser, she developed new audiences for country music and gave it a much-needed sense of respectability and identity.

She personified the maxim that women need to work twice as hard as men for the same reward, and her tenacity and talent was an almighty inspiration for other women working in music.

Country music in Australia owes a huge debt to Joy McKean.

Joy McKean (1930–2023). Photo © The Slim Dusty Centre

Joy grew up in the Hunter Valley region of NSW. She and her sister Heather formed the McKean Sisters and started performing in 1942 when Joy was just 12. The McKean Sisters had a long-running radio show The Melody Ranch on 2KY and released 78s on the fledgling Rodeo Records.

The post-War years saw a huge boom in hillbilly singers – it seemed that every youngster from a dairy farm wanted to be a yodelling cowboy or cowgirl. However, the McKean...