JOSH Setterfield might have been 12 when he and his mother left Wangi Wangi for Queensland's Sunshine Coast, but the country-pop artist has always considered Lake Macquarie home.
His grandparents and extended family still live on the western side of the lake.
"I grew up down there playing in the bush," Setterfield said. "I absolutely love it down there. I've got a song [Hometown] and everything just about loving where I came from. It's a little piece of paradise."
Setterfield returns to the Hunter on Friday for his biggest hometown show yet when he supports country chart-topper Casey Barnes at the Cambridge Hotel.
There's expected to be a host of friends and family in the audience to catch the singer-songwriter, whose career has risen since the release of last year's single Right About Now and he's latest track Better Off.
"It felt like a really good time to release that song [Better Off] as everyone is a little better off without something, whether it be toxic relationships, fake friends, COVID or masks," he said. "It felt like time to release a sassy song."
Setterfield began his music career in pop-punk band Call The Shots, who once supported The Offspring, before they disbanded and he delved into his love of Keith Urban-inspired pop-country.
After releasing the EPs Live It Up (2019), From Dusk (2017) and Til Dawn (2019) full of entirely self-penned tracks, Setterfield branched out into co-writing on Right About Now and Better Off.
On the latter he teamed up with Canadian songwriters Craig Brooks, David Boyd Janes and Jason Blaine.
"It was a real big group effort and it feels really cool to branch out and work with other people because I used to just work by myself," Setterfield said.
"COVID opened that up for me, so to actually sit down and write with someone was a huge thing for me."
Catch Josh Setterfield at the Cambridge Hotel on Friday supporting Casey Barnes.
