Courtney Barnett, Ben Salter, Ainslie Wills Among $15,000 Recording Grant Recipients

Five artists have received one-off grants of $15,000 apiece courtesy of an initiative from the Phonographic Performance Company of Australia and the Australia Council, which will be used to make new records

Courtney Barnett will record her debut full-length record with and her live band backing her up and Dan Luscombe and Burke Reid taking production duties. This will no doubt be a hotly anticipated release after the immense success of her double-EP collection A Sea Of Split Peas.

Brisbane/Melbourne singer-songwriter Ben Salter will use the funds to head to Magoo's Applewood Lane Studios to make his second solo record, following on from 2011's The Cat.

The Bamboos' Lance Ferguson will give us a new Lanu album, once again teaming up with Megan Washington for part of it and enlisting help from other guests such as the Melbourne Samoan Choir and steel guitarist Bill Savesi. His first album with that project Her 12 Faces, was released in 2011.

Ainslie Wills has a second solo record in the works; it is called Oh The Gold and it follows on from her You Go Your Way, I'll Go Mine debut which was released just last year.

Masterful Aussie guitarists The Grigoryan Brothers will record a collection of original songs as well as tunes from renowned composers Nigel Westlake, Shaun Rigney and Stuart Greenbaum with their $15,000.

Dan Rosen, CEO of the PPCA, said the calibre of applications was of a very high standard

“We were extremely pleased by the range and number of applicants under the program and on behalf of PPCA I would like to congratulate all of the artists who were successful in securing grant funding,” he said in a statement today. “We look forward to hearing the recordings that emerge as a result of this funding and wish all of the recipients the very best over the course of their recording careers. I would like to thank the Australia Council for their ongoing assistance and look forward to our continuing partnership.”