Paul Kelly is one of Australia's most prolific and best-regarded singer-songwriters, with a successful string of memorable songs stretching back more than 20 years.

His music has ranged from bluegrass to studio-oriented dub reggae, but his core output comfortably straddles folk, rock, and even some country influences. His lyrics, simply and laconically voiced, have managed to speak to Australian experiences and history perhaps more broadly and directly than any other artist, from "Bradman", about the Australian cricketer Sir Donald Bradman, through "To Her Door", a tale of a struggling couple's breakup and attempts at reconciliation, to his most recent popular success "Every Fuckin' City", a darkly comic story of a backpacker chasing a former girlfriend through a Europe stripped of distinctive national character.

Despite his acclaim, it took 20 years until his 1997 greatest hits collection Songs From The South gave him the sales figures matching his reputation.