Ali Barter

Alison Barter is an Australian tour guide and former singer-songwriter. Trained in classical music, Barter began writing and independently releasing pop rock in her mid-twenties. She released an EP, Trip, in 2012 and was the winner of the 2013 Triple J Unearthed competition. An opinion column Barter wrote in 2016 for Junkee, on the need for representation of women in music history, attracted local and international attention. Barter released one live and two studio albums before ultimately leaving the music industry in 2022. She married musician and collaborator Oscar Dawson in 2016.

Early years Ali Barter was born in Melbourne. She was raised by an Irish Catholic father (who had a son from a previous marriage) and a Buddhist mother. The family moved to Cairns before returning to Melbourne where she attended a Methodist secondary school. She was a 2013 Triple J Unearthed winner, earning a spot on the line-up at St Jerome's Laneway Festival in that year. She followed with support slots for Vance Joy, Cloud Control and the Rubens. Late in 2013 her second EP, Community, was released, which was produced by Oscar Dawson (of Holy Holy). She toured with the War on Drugs.

Barter's third EP, AB EP, was released on 4 September 2015. It was recorded at the Aviary, Abbotsford with Dawson producing and co-writing. Barter appeared in ABC1's TV mini-series The Beautiful Lie (2015), a modern adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina.

In April 2016 Barter performed on triple j's weekly Like a Version segment, where she covered Tame Impala's track "'Cause I'm a Man". She released two singles in that year — "Far Away" in January and "Girlie Bits" in August. Both were quickly added to high rotation on national youth broadcaster triple j. She was also invited by triple j to perform at the Unearthed 10-year anniversary show in November, where she was joined onstage by Melbourne musician Ecca Vandal for a special performance of "Girlie Bits". In 2016, Barter also toured in support of the Rubens, City Calm Down and the Jezabels and held her single launches in Sydney and Brisbane.

In mid-2016 inspired by her experiences while studying 20th century music history at a university in Melbourne, she posted on her Facebook page "about how under-represented women were in the course material." She discussed the importance of including women in music history. The piece garnered a number of responses, including one from Yoko Ono, who re-tweeted the article.

Barter released her debut album, A Suitable Girl, in March 2017, independently on Ronnie Records via Inertia Music. It peaked at No. 17 on the ARIA Albums Chart.

In 2019 Barter announced her second full length album, Hello I'm Doing My Best. Released in October, it was generally well received. It yielded the singles "UR a Piece of Shit", "Backseat" and "Big Ones". The release was followed by a tour of Australian cities.

In March 2020, Australian radio station Triple J premiered a new song by Barter in collaboration with Oscar Dawson (from Holy Holy) titled "Four Days", as part of a COVID-19 self-isolation musical challenge nicknamed Quarantune.

Barter played her final shows in 2022. She pivoted to being a tour guide, running her own travel company called Trunk out of India.

Personal life In 2013 Barter began working with fellow Australian musician Oscar Dawson (ex-Dukes of Windsor, member of Holy Holy), as a songwriting and musical collaboration. She often visited India and expressed a desire to live there, which ultimately happened in 2022.

Discography Studio albums Title Album details Peak positions AUS A Suitable Girl Released: 20 March 2017 Label: Inertia Records (IR5247CD)17 Hello, I'm Doing My Best Released: 18 October 2019 Label: Girly Bits / Inertia Music53

Live albums Title details triple j Live At The Wireless Released: 29 May 2020 Label: ABC Music

Extended plays Title EP details Trip Released: September 2012 Label: Ali Barter Community Released: 7 November 2014 Label: Ronnie Records (RON001) AB-EP Released: 31 August 2015 Label: Ronnie Records (RON002) Chocolate Cake Released: 30 April 2021 Label:

Singles Year Title Album 2012 "Run You Down" Trip 2014 "Community" Community 2015 "Hypercolour" AB-EP "Blood" 2016 "Far Away" A Suitable Girl "Girlie Bits" 2017 "Cigarette" "Please Stay" "One Foot In" 2019 "UR a Piece of Shit" Hello, I'm Doing My Best "Backseat" "Big Ones" "Issues" "Backseat" 2020 "Four Days" "Twisted Up" Chocolate Cake 2021 "You Get in My Way"

Awards and nominations AIR Awards The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. 2017 herself Best Independent Artist

J Awards The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J. They commenced in 2005. 2017 A Suitable Girl Australian Album of the Year

Music Victoria Awards The Music Victoria Awards are an annual awards night celebrating Victorian music. They commenced in 2006. 2017 Ali Barter Best Female Artist

National Live Music Awards The National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) are a broad recognition of Australia's diverse live industry, celebrating the success of the Australian live scene. The awards commenced in 2016. 2018 Ali Barter Live Pop Act of the Year