Press Kit
Singer, songsmith and storyteller
TJ Howlett was a fixture of Melbourne's early 90s grunge scene before he walked away from music for two decades. He came back writing a different kind of song: blues-rock stories about mining towns, families haunted by addiction, and the difference between persistence and stubbornness. He writes, sings, plays, mixes and produces all of it himself. Two singles so far, Not Mine (2025) and Easy Street (2026), both picked up across independent blues and rock press, with more than 950 community radio plays between them and three chart placements for Easy Street in its first week out.
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.
TJ was a fixture of Melbourne's early 90s grunge scene, and after a couple of decades in the wilderness he re-emerged slinging his axe for Dark Thorn and Veiled Arch, delivering the signature Bluespunk lead breaks he's known for. 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.
TJ Howlett is a blues-rock singer-songwriter from Melbourne, Australia. He writes about mining towns, families haunted by addiction and what it takes to keep going, and he plays, records and produces all of it himself.
All vocals, instruments, arrangement, mixing and production by TJ Howlett. Drums programmed.
Charts. Easy Street placed three times in the Community Radio Airplay Charts for the week ending 26 February 2026, six days after release:
Airplay. 954 logged plays on Australian community radio across the four songs, to September 2026. The song Not Mine accounts for 692 of them.
"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
Eight reviews across seven outlets:
