In 2005, Aleyce Simmonds released her debut single Mighty Mighty Love – a track that became the most played country song on commercial radio in Australian history and changed her life forever.
Twenty years on, the Tamworth singer-songwriter is celebrating the milestone with a new take on the song that launched her journey.
“It was a very special release for me,” she said.
“It was my very first release and very successful at the time. It became the most played country song on commercial radio in history. It opened up so many opportunities for me and I got to play on a lot of festivals and showcases for commercial radio because of the success of the song. I was the only country artist to be on those showcases with people like Delta Goodrem.”
Aleyce said the past 20 years had been amazing, as well as difficult, and she wanted to celebrate the journey.
“I wanted to release something that listeners would be familiar with, but also a different take on it,” she said.
“The original was such a big production song that the only real option was to go smaller and strip it back. It took a bit of getting used to, to sing it differently after 20 years of singing it the original way. (My sister) Karlee and (brother-in-law) Mikey Cole sang on it, and it was the same for them.”
The new recording, produced by Simon Johnson, features Bill Risby on piano, Liam Kennedy-Clarke on Rhodes organ, Simon on bass, and harmonies from Karlee and Mikey.
“I’m hoping people will listen to it and then want to revisit the previous one,” she said.
“Maybe they’re hearing my music for the first time in general and might go back and listen to my 20 years of recorded music. For me, it was such a huge song and made my life go in a whole different direction. For young artists and young country music listeners, they were too young to hear it when it came out originally, so hopefully they’ll discover my music. With every release, you hope to expand and get more listeners who will come and hear you play live.”
At her Tamworth Country Music Festival show on 18 January 2026 at the Tamworth Hotel, the CMAA Academy of Country Music Junior Course students that she mentored in July this year will open the show.
“They’ll be showcasing what they do – I’m so proud of them,” she said.
“Being an Academy group leader is always really special, but maybe because I’m a mum now, I really connected with my kids this year, and we’ve been Facetiming and catching up. It’s really important that I stay part of their journey. I hope that my listeners will get on their journey and stay on their journey with them.”
“I was looking out into the crowd this year at my Tamworth show and realised a lot of the faces were the same ones from 20 years ago because they stay on the journey with you and you become friends. It’s a beautiful thing to foster that connection. I’m looking forward to hearing the students again, and I want to help them in any way possible.”
$5 from every ticket to Aleyce’s Tamworth Country Music Festival show will be donated to CanAssist, continuing her tradition of giving back.
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