Artist of the Month, Danny Christensen – December 2025

There’s something unmistakably regional about the band Bluebone. Their sound carries the DNA of somewhere relaxed and unhurried, sun drenched and coastal. Lead vocalist and guitarist, Danny Christensen’s voice has that soaring, almost ethereal quality reminiscent of Jeff Buckley, but there’s also an earthiness underneath. The music itself is an alchemy of surf beats meets funk fusion, basslines borrowed from Flea’s playbook, and all colliding with the kind of guitar work that nods to Hendrix and Led Zeppelin.

A talented musician today, it’s surprising to learn that Danny Christensen didn’t pick up a bass guitar until he was sixteen. It’s a late start by most musicians’ standards, but what Danny lacked in early training, he made up for in determination.

“I didn’t get into it until quite late,” he recalls, his accent an unplaceable blend of continents, a linguistic melting pot that mirrors his musical sensibilities. “I started out on the bass guitar… and I just fell in love with it.” That love was ignited by watching Flea, the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ virtuoso bassist, whose funky, percussive style opened up an entirely new world of rhythm for the teenage Danny.

His passion for music would eventually lead him from Spain to California’s ‘Musicians Institute’, a 24-hour-access creative paradise covering everything from music business to recording engineering.

The transient nature of Danny’s childhood – bouncing between the UK, Netherlands, Spain, and the US – might have unsettled some, but it gave him adaptability. And when he finally landed in Australia after a three-month sojourn in Costa Rica, knowing no one, he found himself drawn not to the glittering cities but to the red earth and vast horizons of regional WA.

Bluebone and the Melting Pot Aesthetic

Danny based himself in Broome for 10 years, then moved to Exmouth, where he launched as a solo act in 2020. Since then it has evolved into a fluid collective shaped by the ‘transitional lifestyle’ of regional living. The current band includes drummer Amos Morris, lead guitar Jonny Kotsionis, and rotating bassists Belle Harvey and David Girsh.

When asked about his influences, Danny is refreshingly candid about his artistic lineage. “Although the Red Hot Chili Peppers got me into music, my number one influence is Jeff Buckley,” he says. Add Robert Plant and Tash Sultana to the mix, and you have what he calls “a melting pot of styles.”

“I struggle with the phrase – original artist,” he muses philosophically. “We’re all a product of influence.” His songwriting process is melody-led. He’ll hum nonsense over chord progressions until something clicks, then build from there.

Listening to Bluebone’s latest album ‘Of Dust and Water’ you’ll discover a kind of music that says ‘summer with the windows down’, or is reminiscent of sitting in a pub during a hot Sunday sesh. It’s eclectic without being chaotic, the kind of sounds that leave you somehow lighter, and more relaxed.

The Changing Face of Regional Audiences

Danny speaks with palpable nostalgia about the Exmouth he discovered in 2018. “There was such a vibrant art and music scene there,” he remembers. “Back then, it was surfers, fishing industry workers, and creatives. You’re playing to a very engaged and receptive kind of audience.”

But something has shifted in the last couple of years. “It’s become more FIFO family dominated,” he observes, his tone matter-of-fact rather than bitter. The pressures most people have witnessed in other regional WA towns, where house prices have climbed and the creative community has thinned, are evident too in Exmouth.

His plan is to head south for summer gigs, and this February through March, Bluebone will embark on a 10-show South West tour spanning from Bunbury to Esperance, hitting venues like Lucky Bay Brewery, The River, and Caves House. Danny’s also offering free community workshops on DIY music production at the Margaret River Community Centre, aimed at 18+ independent artists.

Tours and workshops like this aren’t funded from tips and Spotify streams though. Danny was awarded a contribution of $18k through the Regional Arts Fund, a competitive grant that recognises both artistic merit and community impact.

“I have no ambition to be rich or overly famous,” Danny says. Rather than success being about wealth or fame, for Danny it’s about sustainability: “What I love to do most in the world is music”, he says; “and if I can make a living doing it year-round, splitting time between the North West and South West to avoid seasonal dead zones, that would be enough.”

It’s a modest ambition, perhaps. But in an age of manufactured viral moments and algorithmic fame, there’s something quietly radical about an artist who just wants to be ‘a staple act’ in the communities he serves.

For those in the South West over summer, keep your ear out for Bluebone, and support local music.

Photos provided by Danny Christensen