Gigs cancelled, a divorce, and a new love: Catherine Britt could write a country song about 2020

On the one hand the Golden Guitar winner is relishing the opportunity to spend time with her young sons Hank and Morrison and her new partner Bradley Bergen. On the other hand, she has gone through a divorce and has had gig after gig get cancelled due to COVID restrictions.

"It's so weird," Britt tells Weekender, "My littlest one probably can't remember life without the pandemic."

Britt and her husband of seven years James Beverley ended their marriage amicably last year and are co-parenting their sons in Newcastle. She says the old saying is true - the first year is the hardest - but the dust has settled and the boys are thriving.

"James and I are good mates and we co-parent really well and talk all the time about the kids, and send each other photos," she says.

"Of course it's never good when you first break up, especially with kids. It's awful. But we did everything through mediation. We just got it done."

Putting the needs of Hank and Morrison first guided every decision they made.

"Our focus from day one has been to keep everything about them and I think because of that they have transitioned so well into this back-and-forth life," Britt says.

"They know that we both love and adore them and just want what's best for them. They also get spoilt rotten by James and I [laughs]."

From making slime to building dinosaur worlds in a cardboard box, you name it, Britt's done it during lockdown. It's a far cry from life on the road as a country music star.

"There have been lots of park walks and kicking a ball outside but the boys are over it. Every day they ask me 'Is the coronavirus over yet?.' Every day," she says.

"James and the kids went for a bike ride the other day and Hank could hear kids playing in a yard and he said to James, 'Are they my friends daddy?' and it broke my heart. He just wanted to play with another kid.

"I'm so glad my boys have each other."

Britt is grateful, too, to have time at home to share with Bergen, who is also a musician.

"I feel like I've found where I am supposed to be now, you know? I feel at peace," she says.

"I loved my husband and we did our best, but at the end of the day it wasn't meant to be. We were so close but it changed and we became different people.

"I feel really lucky. I didn't think I'd get another chance at it, you know, I just thought 'Well I've been married and it didn't work so that's it for me' [laughs].

"I'm really happy and relaxed and in a great place and I think the boys feel that too, which is good. They adore him."

It's a different, quieter life to the one Britt has known since famously being discovered by Elton John as a teenager, recording a song with him and moving to Nashville. A life spent touring, writing, recording and winning awards.

"We haven't cancelled everything yet, we're just holding on for dear life, but deep down I have kind of written this year off, to be honest," she says.

"Me and my colleagues, we all keep in touch and check in on each other. People aren't coping. Not being able to perform or do what you love is like you've been stripped of your identity, you know? It's everything we know or do and we just have no control over when we can do it again.

"The arts have been totally ignored. There always seem to be ways to make exceptions for sport, I mean, the Olympics went ahead. It doesn't make any sense to me.

"Even now they should be trying to make it work so that we can perform in front of a fully vaccinated crowd. You're allowed entry if you've got a negative COVID test or you're vaccinated. I mean, why not?"

Touring has stopped but Britt has been keeping busy. She has a record label to run, to start with, and a 2022 tour of the US to plan. She'd also dearly love to bring her Bush Pubs Tour of Australia back to life.

"I've still got Beverley Hillbilly Records and my goal is still to work with independent artists and get their music out and the money in their pockets," she says.

"I'm also working on a project with Lachlan Bryan. We've written a bunch of duets and we've recorded four and we love them so much that we're going to make an album.

"The best thing I ever did was to buy my publishing rights back before COVID. I now get royalty cheques for selling my albums, and it's definitely changed the dynamic for me in terms of putting food on my kids' table rather than someone else's.

"It was a big outlay at first and I still don't own all my albums, I never will. But there will be a clause where I can re-record them, so I'm thinking of doing that - getting an awesome band together and going to the studio for a few weeks and redoing Too Far Gone and Little Wildflower. I might put out a box set or something special."

As for new music, Britt says, laughing, that she's "not going to rule out a divorce album".

"Poor James - but there is a lot there to write about, things to say, and things that are relatable too. Who hasn't been heartbroken before? Most of the stuff I'm writing is about what I have gone through in the past year.

"I love break-up albums, they're the best. When somebody is totally f - - ked up and heartbroken they write the best music, don't you think?"

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