Gordi takes us for a walk down "Bendy Street" in Canowindra

Sydney-via-Canowindra artist GORDI has gone from strength to strength over the past few months. Earlier this year saw her tour the country supporting Of Monsters and Men after inking a deal with Liberation (also home to Emma Louise, Slum Sociable and more), as well as touring Europe and the US festival circuit. Her EP, Clever Disguise, has seen thousands and thousands of streams across all platforms, and she is well and truly on her way to becoming a household name in Australia and beyond.

But, before she sets off into the stratosphere, we got her talking about what keeps her grounded - home. Talking us for a virtual tour throughout her hometown of Canowindra (the hot air ballooning capital of Australia, she tells us), Gordi's hometown pride shines through and goes to show that no matter how big she gets, she'll never forget Canowindra.

The lifeblood of every country town is its main street - the grocer, the butcher, the baker, the newsagency, the Vinnies op shop. The best thing is you can always get a park, and if more than 3 cars go past at any one time you’ll hear a local say “it’s bloody Pitt St today”. Saturday morning is the best time for a stroll as the street is a buzz of activity. Everyone actually says “G’day”, there’s always a raffle going, people tell me I’ve grown taller since I was last home. I grew up outside a little town called Canowindra, which is over 300km west of Sydney. Its main street is Gaskill Street, or as it has become affectionately known - Bendy Street (it has a bend in it).

The first place I would take you is Finn’s Store - it’s always warm in winter and they do a mean coffee or hot chocolate (I’m not a grown up so I don’t drink coffee), plus they have the coolest homewares that in Sydney would be about triple the price. It’s a lovely old building and the Yeos who run it have preserved it beautifully. But the real reason you go to Finn’s Store is for a chat (in the country we call it a “yarn”).

Next we’d head to Belubula Butchery to pick up a leg of lamb for the inevitable Sunday Roast (unless you’re vegetarian in which case you can wait outside). I’m from a farm outside of Canowindra and my family have been on the same property for over a century. There’s some fine quality produce in the area!

Obviously if we’re going to be having a roast we need vegetables, so we’ll next go to the green grocer. The green grocer encapsulates everything people love about country towns - fresh produce, friendly service, and when I was little they used to have icecream. I’d walk in after school and say ‘the usual, please’, which was honeycomb butterscotch in a cone.

By now you probably feel like another coffee, not to mention we surely need some soft cheeses for the pre-lunch nibbles, so we’ll head to Deli Lama for some fine delicacies and a huge wheel of brie. You’ve surely realised at this point that a weekend in the country is about good food, and the only thing left to do is get some good wine. 

Canowindra is known for their excellent wines and it brings visitors from far and wide. If you’re after a good drop I can highly recommend “Swinging Bridge” (named after the Swinging Bridge in Canowindra), but I think the last stop on our tour will take us to some good friends of mine at Wallington Wines where we can taste the fruits of their latest vintage in their straw bale winery. I spent a lot of time at this place growing up and my part in the wine making process was to take my shoes off and jump into the big vats to smoosh the grapes (I think ‘smoosh’ is the technical term).

That concludes my hometown tour! I hope at the very least you are well fed and watered.

Words by Emma Jones.

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