VERY
GOOD
ENT.
Josh Hannan - The Star of BIGSOUND
Image Source: BIGSOUND.org.au
I walked into the Artist Showcase at BIGSOUND 2025 knowing it was packed with rising talent- but it was Josh Hannan who stole the show. His set at Ric’s Backyard was captivating, and it stopped me in my tracks.
I’d known of Josh from his Australian Idol run a couple of years ago, but this felt worlds away from TV polish. There was a rawness, a sense of someone still shaping their story, but already aware of just how powerful their delivery could be.
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Josh’s voice carries twin currents of raw heartbreak and power, feeling both familiar yet unique. Throughout the set I was reminded of the likes of Hozier, David Kushner and Matt Corby, and with a multi instrumentalist show cycling through keyboard, guitar and prerecorded synths and percussion, there’s no doubt he is set for stardom. Tracks like aftermath and am i even on ur mind? landed with weight, and a kind of unassuming.
By the end of the set I realised I’d stopped thinking about the showcase schedule, and for half an hour at Ric’s Backyard, it was just Josh, his songs, and the feeling that I was watching the beginning of something bigger. BIGSOUND is designed for discovery, and in that moment, I knew this was exactly it.
By the final song I was buzzing - not just with regret that the set had ended, but with excitement that I had re-discovered such intense and insanely good music. I pulled out my phone for an immediate follow on Instagram and song download on Spotify, and couldn’t help but send the video’s I’d recorded during the set to all my friends captioned only with ‘wow’… Moments like these are what BIGSOUND is built for - discovering the kind of artist you might still be talking about years down the track, and for me, it did just that.
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If you were lucky enough to catch Josh performing at BIGSOUND, then I hope you enjoyed as much as I did, and if not, keep your eyes and ears on his socials as he announces more music and shows. If this performance was anything to go by, we’ll really be in for a treat.
