Critically acclaimed, classically trained rock, pop and blues-influenced Americana artist Gretta Ziller has accrued two Golden Guitar nominations thus far. Her eclectic sonic palette also draws from the jazz and classical worlds, and while Gretta’s favourite artists and influences – including but not limited to HAIM, Rag’n’Bone Man, Bishop Briggs, Steve Earle and Paul Kelly – filter through her work, she defies comparison and instead chooses to forge her own musical path.

“I am this weird person that doesn’t sound like anyone,” says Gretta.
The token musician in a family of farmers, Gretta shares, “I could whistle before I could talk”. Her grandmother played violin and, before returning to Germany, encouraged Gretta’s parents to take their musically talented child to violin lessons. ”I started learning violin when I was 2½ and would just make up songs on the violin,” she recounts. Gretta also played a few other musical instruments – including bagpipes – at school before picking up guitar while completing her Bachelor of Music degree at Melbourne University, here she majored in voice.
“I’ve always played and sung because it makes my heart happy,” Gretta enthuses.
“Music has always been my joy; creating, especially. I can connect and sing the songs that were a part of my life and then they can become a part of somebody else’s life; I think that’s pretty damn special.”

Gretta’s latest single Ain’t Even Your Lover – just one of many “little moments of sparkle” on her eagerly anticipated third album, All These Walls (due 25 Aug) – is a cheeky, upbeat little number that promises great things (stay tuned for more single releases in the lead-up to release day). Both of Gretta’s previous albums – 2017’s debut, Queen Of Boomtown, and 2021’s follow-up, Judas Tree – were longlisted for the prestigious Australian Music Prize.
She cites warming up stages for Ian Moss and Troy Cassar-Daley on their Together Alone tour in 2020 as one of her career highlights to date, and since music lovers who experience these coveted support slots routinely seek out Gretta’s own headline shows, her fanbase is growing organically. As the inaugural recipient of the Country Music Association of Australia (CMAA) Academy of Music Scholarship, Gretta is heading over to the U.S. this September to play Nashville’s Americana Fest.

Self-described as “unashamedly dorky and okay with that”, Gretta can’t wait to share her gift with the world.