About
Blues-rock singer-songwriter from Melbourne, Australia. TJ Howlett was a fixture of the city's early 90s grunge scene, walked away from it for two decades, and came back with a collection of songs about how people end up where they are.
Blues-rock singer-songwriter from Melbourne, Australia. TJ Howlett was a fixture of the city's early 90s grunge scene, walked away from it for two decades, and came back with a collection of songs about how people end up where they are.
"A warm storyteller's voice that draws you in."
TJ Howlett is a singer, songwriter and musician from Melbourne, Australia. His songs tell stories about the situations and feelings that make people who they are, creating an atmosphere that transports your imagination to another place and time.
His music is a blend of guitar based genres across a broad spectrum, from stomping blues-rock to ethereal acoustic to dark gothic grooves. These aural soundscapes paint a mood around poignant and soulful lyrics and deliver stories that evoke contemplation and emotion.
TJ was a fixture of Melbourne's early 90s grunge scene, known for his wild talent and soaring lead breaks in outfits including Lost Cause, Blue September, Rehab, Joe Bloggs and Flux and Change.
After a couple of decades in the wilderness, TJ re-emerged into the music scene, slinging his axe for Dark Thorn and Veiled Arch. His work in these bands was a collaboration of high-energy riffs, sweeping chord voicings and his signature Bluespunk lead breaks, delivering a fusion of soul-tearing melodies and full throttle attack.
He also had a number of stories from the wilderness that needed to be sung, more introspective in nature and that he needed to craft personally. The result is the TJ Howlett collection – songs that create place, time and feeling.
"Things kind of fell apart for me musically and personally in the 90s. I got to a point where I just had to get out. I was walking some dark paths, and I had a bunch of unresolved things I needed to work through. Music was always a place of safety, but everything around it wasn't."
"The thing about healing is it takes time. You need to go through pain, let yourself be vulnerable, find what things are causing the problem and work them out. By creating stories that explore how people end up where they are, and what happens when they get there, I've been able to explore some of my own journey and reflect on how I got to where I am."
"I do this through songs, because the music is such an important part of the delivery of the story. The tempo can excite or relax you physically, the soundscape sets the mood, and singing puts expression and emotion into the words. When I'm listening to music I like, I get transported somewhere else for a few minutes - sometimes it makes me think, other times I just vibe on the mood. I'm hoping people might get the same from some of my songs, and have an enjoyable or thought provoking couple of minutes in their day."
TJ writes, sings, plays, arranges, mixes and produces everything himself, at home, in his own time.
The songs have been played more than 330 times on Australian community radio. Easy Street reached No. 4 on the Rock chart, No. 8 on Country/Blues/Roots and No. 8 on the Metro chart in the Community Radio Airplay Charts for the week ending 26 February 2026.
"It's a coming-of-age story carved into a coal seam, an exploration of love, loss, power, and control, viewed through the lens of a working-class mining town upbringing. It feels true."— MusicArenaGH, on Not Mine, 25 March 2025
"This is dirt-under-the-nails storytelling…"— Groover City, on Not Mine, 21 March 2025
"For listeners who appreciate blues-rock with patience, tone, and emotional depth, TJ Howlett's return offers a compelling and heartfelt listen."— Loop Solitaire, on Easy Street, 11 March 2026
For booking, press or licensing: tjhowlettmusic@gmail.com