Josh Cunningham
Musical artist
Joshua Hayden Cunningham is an Australian guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. He is a founding member of folk rock band The Waifs, and one-half of folk and country duo Felicity Urquhart and Josh Cunningham. Collectively, Cunningham has been awarded four ARIA Awards, three CMAA Golden Guitar Awards, one AIR Award, and was inducted into the Australian Songwriters Association Hall of Fame in 2017.
Cunningham was also a member of Missy Higgins's backing band for the first three years of her career, and performed on her album On a Clear Night.
He has constructed some of the guitars he plays, both acoustic and electric.
01Early life
Cunningham grew up on a farm in Moruya, New South Wales. His family were poor and lived in a one-room shack without power or modern conveniences, and yet he describes a loving and secure upbringing that taught him the value of what is truly important in life .
"Many would use the word 'underprivileged' to describe the way I grew up, but I regard it as a privilege, more and more as I've gotten older."
At the age of 13, he was inspired to pick up the guitar after seeing Michael J Fox's (aka Marty McFly) spirited rendition of Johnny B Goode in the 1985 movie "Back to The Future".
02Career
The Waifs (1992-present)
Cunningham met Donna and Vikki Simpson while the two sisters played gigs in Broome, in 1992. At the time, Cunningham was playing bass guitar in an all-male band. Donna Simpson described, on The Waifs' official website, how they met:
"We jammed for about 10 minutes and I asked him to join the band and he said "ok"... Just like that, and we became The Waifs."
In 2003, they became an "overnight sensation" when they picked up four ARIA awards for their album Up All Night and had radio success with several of the tracks from that album including "London Still" and "Lighthouse Man".
The Waifs have opened for and shared stages with many high-profile artists along the way, most notably being personally invited by Bob Dylan to join him for over thirty shows in the US in 2003.
Felicity Urquhart & Josh Cunningham (2000-present)
In 2020 Cunningham teamed up in music and in life with Australian country music star Felicity Urquhart. Their ARIA and 4 times Golden Guitar-nominated debut album The Song Club, blended Cunningham's signature folk/roots sound with Felicity's country leanings and established the duo as a potent musical force.
Described by The Australian's Phil Stafford as "Australia's first couple of folk-country," Urquhart and Cunningham topped the pool at the 2024 Golden Guitar Awards for both nominations (six) and wins (three) for their follow up album Birdsong, released in September 2023.
03Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions |
|---|---|---|
| AUS | ||
| Into Tomorrow |
|
, |
| The Song Club (with Felicity Urquhart) |
|
77 |
| Birdsong (with Felicity Urquhart) |
|
, |
| Everything Around You (with Felicity Urquhart) |
|
85 |
04Awards and nominations
AIR Awards
The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector.
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | The Song Club (with Felicity Urquhart) | Best Independent Country Album or EP | Won |
ARIA Music Awards
The ARIA Music Awards is an annual ceremony presented by Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), which recognise excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of the music of Australia. They commenced in 1987.
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | The Song Club (with Felicity Urquhart) | Best Country Album | Nominated |
Country Music Awards of Australia
The Country Music Awards of Australia is an annual awards night held in January during the Tamworth Country Music Festival. Celebrating recording excellence in the Australian country music industry. They commenced in 1973.
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Felicity Urquhart & Josh Cunningham | Group or Duo of the Year | Nominated | |
| The Song Club | Alt. Country Album of the Year | Nominated | ||
| The Song Club | Album of the Year | Nominated | ||
| "Spare Parts" | Video of the Year | Nominated | ||
| 2023 | "Bogswamp" (written by Josh Cunningham), Recorded by Felicity Urquhart & Josh Cunningham | Heritage Song of the Year | Nominated | |
| 2024 | Birdsong (with Felicity Urquhart) | Album of the Year | Nominated | |
| Birdsong (with Felicity Urquhart) | Traditional County Album of the Year | Won | ||
| "Size Up" (with Felicity Urquhart) | Single of the Year | Won | ||
| "Size Up" (with Felicity Urquhart) | Song of the Year | Won | ||
| "Size Up" (with Felicity Urquhart) (dir. Duncan Toombs & The Filmery) | Video of the Year | Nominated | ||
| Josh Cunningham & Felicity Urquhart | Group or Duo of the Year | Nominated | ||
| 2026 | Josh Cunningham & Felicity Urquhart | Group or Duo of the Year | Nominated |
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Josh Cunningham”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Josh Cunningham at WA Art Gallery 9 03 2017.jpg by JarrahTree, CC BY 2.5 au
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