Musical success stories aren't always about the breakout big single, the one-hit wonder from nowhere that suddenly lights up radars with a radio smash tune. Often it's about long, hard work over many years, a tale of perseverance and effort and work ethic rather than a monster chart-topper out of the blue.
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James Stewart Keene is an example of that.
The Bulli country rock singer-songwriter has been working towards a career in the music industry since being gifted his first guitar for Christmas as an eight-year-old. Learning the craft at the knee of Four Kinsmen guitarist Graham Wilson, James played in local bands all through his youth and early adulthood with a heart set on a life in music - until family life threw up a welcome distraction.
"I became a father in my twenties, so music was put on hold for a little while," James laughed.
"I didn't get back into it until 2005, when I enrolled in a music performance course at TAFE."
The work restoked the fire in his belly, with mentors including Bruce Reid - from iconic Aussie rockers Dragon - again sparking the idea of a career as a professional musician.
"I've always loved country-rock, US west coast classic rock, and the course helped me rediscover my love of that music," James said.
"A lot of that music was being played in my house when I was growing up, vinyl records that I still listen to a lot."
Records were made in that time, but it is his latest effort - the February-released album The Navigator - which has James again inching his way towards his dreams of life as a professional musician. His single Bottom of the Barrel debuted in the Australian Country Tracks Top 30 charts, in the company of the likes of Taylor Swift and Keith Urban.
"It's a hard business," James said simply.
A business made more challenging, considering the fact The Navigator was recorded and produced entirely at his Bulli home, with songs he had written himself.
"I've matured as a songwriter over all this time. Songwriting has become one of my strengths, which developed over a lot of trial and error," James said.
"Even when I was younger, I wanted to play only my own stuff."
Mixed by Matt Fell, who has worked on releases from The Whitlams, Sara Storer and a slew of award-winning Australian talent, the album was inspired by a string of trips to country music mecca Nashville.
Networking, co-writes and exposure to country's capital city was enough to set James on the right path, and The Navigator is set to knock him up to the next peg on the musical pecking order.
"I've picked up a management company, and I'll be out on the road gigging a lot more," James said. "Watch this space."
