Bunbury country singer Codee-Lee Down opens up about her time away from music following the release of new EP

Bunbury musician Codee-Lee Down has added a stack of awards to her already impressive portfolio following a three year break from the music industry due to a “loss in confidence”. Travelling across Europe, performing at New York’s Time Square, filling television speakers with her acoustic country sounds on the Voice Australia and serenading crowds in Boyup Brook were all part of Codee-Lee’s musical journey. However, following a fear of judgment after “gaining weight” the Bunbury artist stepped away from the musical spotlight, only to be welcomed back by four WA Country Music Awards for her latest release. A “bare-all” reflection of her time away from music, Codee-Lee’s new EP, Who I Am, takes listeners on a journey of fear, strength and happiness. “Unfortunately for me I had a bit of a loss in confidence and I just became really afraid to perform in front of people,” she said. “I put on a lot of weight and I think I was worried about the way that I looked and in turn I was afraid of what people might think.” “Who I Am is the title track of the EP and it is a bare-all song that shares my story of being so afraid to perform in front of anyone to coming back stronger and happier”. Finishing in the top 50 on hit reality singing program The Voice at 16 years old, Codee-Lee’s repertoire is filled with honours, boasting 14 WA Country Music awards and two West Australian Music Industry awards. “You don’t make music to win awards but it’s really nice to be recognised for all the hard work that goes into a collection of songs,” she said. “(My family) really encouraged me to chase my dreams and being a mum now I really just need to show my son that you can chase after your dreams no matter how big or small they are.” Codee-Lee said her career kicked off after her move from WA’s Mid West further south and at the age of 14 the then Bunbury Senior High School student won her heat at the Telstra Road to Tamworth Country Music Competition. “I grew up in Dongara in the Mid West and then when I was 13 I moved down to Bunbury with my family,” she said. “When I was 18 years old, straight out of high school, I jumped on a plane and moved to Nashville and had an ambitious goal to write 50 songs in the two months I was there and I achieved that.” Introduced to the Dixie Chicks while playing in a childhood band, Codee-Lee said her love of country music just kept growing and outlined some of her up and coming projects. “I’ve got some new songs coming out in the middle of July which is really cool and a new CD coming out in August,” she said. “I think (music) is something that’s a part of me and I’ll do until the day I die ... my drummer and I always joke that our nursing homes should be close so that we can still play music when we’re 80.”