Relatability anchors everything that Phil Barton writes—and he writes hundreds of songs every year. Hailing from Sydney and now based in Nashville, the prolific tunesmith scored his first country chart-topper in the US with Lee Brice’s “A Woman Like You” in 2011. Exuding everyman folksiness, the song sees a guy daydream about what life would have been like if he’d never met his better half. The answer? More football and fried chicken, and much less awareness of yoga. That multiplatinum hit scored Barton multiple awards, and he has only deepened the winsome appeal of his songwriting since then. Observe his warm evocation of seasonal sensations on 2023’s Kaylee Bell song “When Summer Rolls Around”, and the robust sustenance of faith in an uncertain world on the same year’s Gabby Barrett single “God, Money & Love”. Barton has collaborated extensively with American and Australian talent alike, and his lyrics and melodies thrive just as well in the polished country pop of Missy Lancaster and LOCASH as they do in the more rustic, rocking hands of The Wolfe Brothers.