Nerida Cuddy is an evocative writer whose songs reflect emotional depth, breathing the landscape of rural Australia. Described as “a central west Mary Black”, her story-based concerts create space for connection and reflection, humour and fun. She has been in increasing demand as a performer over the past few years, with gigs, folk club and festival performances in NSW and Victoria, as well as shared songwriter concerts with the likes of Enda Kenny, Bruce Watson, Fred Smith, Snez and Craig Sinclair. For over 25 years, Nerida’s songs have connected her with people from all walks of life. Her stories-in-song are a well-balanced mix of bittersweet tales of life with tasty lashings of humour, generous and fun. Detailed guitar accompanies her warm & passionate voice. ABC Central West called her “a composer & musician with not only an ear for music, but a social conscience and a sense of humour”.

After many fairly isolated years, due to her life in a small country town bringing up three children, Nerida greatly enjoyed the chance to find a much larger audience via zoom & Youtube since 2020; particularly in the UK, where she will tour in July/Aug 2023. In 2021, Nerida was asked to be part of an album called While the World Waits, commissioned by Arts Outwest, comprised of central-west singer-songwriters responding to 2020. Her song Virtual Folk Club features a fun film clip: a little time capsule of our zooming experiences during Covid. She was also part of Arts Outwest’s Music Recovery program across the region. In 2021, her 5th album, Woven, was released, a collection of Australian story songs, launched in several Australian locations, as well as in Scotland via Youtube. A prolific songwriter, Nerida has also released many additional songs via her self-made films on Youtube.

Nerida Cuddy left her hometown of Sydney as soon as she could, for the open skies and space of western NSW, a stint in country Victoria, finally stopping in Canowindra, central west NSW. Nerida’s diverse life experiences, along with her own spiritual journeying through loss & healing, love and family, have proved to be a rich pallette from which to draw inspiration.

Nerida has a genuine commitment to supporting rural wellbeing through music. When her kids were young, from 2009-2015, she initiated and ran the “Folk at Canowindra” live music club which helped open up a live music scene in her immediate area, encouraging a wide range of people in creativity, music and community. Nerida has also provided entertainment for a wide range of events, particularly across her region. In 2017, she performed her song Canowindra, at the town’s annual Balloon Glow in front of a crowd of 10 000 people. At this time, she was filmed by the ABC’s Back Roads program, both playing music and working with her children’s drama club. She has loved teaching music at a little school in Eugowra for several years, and has found great fulfilment supporting her (wrecked) school since the flood, co-writing a song with her students, as well as forming a pop-up choir for adults which was an enjoyable source of wellbeing for those involved. Nerida has planned a “Strength of Stories” tour of small towns in NSW’s Northwest for March 2024.