A true blue Aussie singer/songwriter born in Ireland? Liz Hogarth caught up with Colin Buchanan, one of Australia’s biggest country music stars – a man who is also on a much bigger mission.

Mothers are almost as besotted by him as their children. The big names in Australian country music count him as a friend. And Archbishop Peter Jensen once found it impossible to resist an appeal to don dark glasses and join him in a rap version of Isaiah 53:6. It seems few can deny the charm and talent of country singer and Christian singer/songwriter Colin Buchanan.

The 39-year-old former Play School presenter has a particularly high profile at the moment, as he has just completed a countrywide tour performing his praise songs for children. Nine shows, including all the major capitals, in three weeks. He tells me that he has appeared in front of around ten thousand children and is feeling a little tired, and glad to be back at his home in south Sydney. Indeed, with baseball cap pulled well over his eyes, and a little stubble decorating his chin, he doesn’t look quite like the bouncy, sparkly-eyed Colin we see smiling at us from CD and video covers.

However, the famous charisma quickly re-asserts itself as he debates the perils of having cream with his hot chocolate and explains that he has just come from hosting a session for the country music radio show ‘Toyota Outback Club’. It quickly becomes apparent that one of the reasons he is feeling ‘a bit tired’ is that he gives 110 per cent to whatever he is doing. His commitment to never giving a performance that just goes through the motions and his desire to communicate something real about God is one of the reasons for his popularity with children and parents alike.

“I don’t write my songs through safety glass,” he says. “I don’t think ‘Oh, that would be good for kids.’ If I am writing a song with spiritual truth, I need to digest that truth.”

He believes that adults should, and indeed often do, gain insight from his songs. “If I really have taken that truth then it should be just as potent for an adult as for a child,” he says. “In the end, if I just intellectualise and theorise and regurgitate truth without it touching my own life, then I don’t know that I will be having a vital, engaging ministry. If it just turns into a twee little number, then I’ve not done the Bible justice.”

Another reason for the effectiveness of his ministry lies in his background as a teacher and country singer. “Without sounding too grandiose, I have thought that Daniel benefited from the best training Babylon had to offer, and my path to what I do now has led through the world,” he says. “I made four country albums before I made one ‘Aussie Praise for Kids!’ album, with non-Christian people and with non-Christian record companies, and that road gave me an opportunity to hone my song writing and learn the trade of recording. I have no doubt that it has not just given me profile, but experience.”

When performing in front of the camera (he has just recorded another series for Playhouse Disney) Colin says he always thinks about the child at the other end of the lens and so does not find it strange when children come up to him and give him a hug as if they know him. He has grown used to being recognised and even shadowed by families in the supermarket. However, one thing he finds a bit unnerving is when he is recognised by hip young teens who first saw him on Play School ten years ago. “A sign of getting old,” he says.

However, he doesn’t mind being approached, and enjoys meeting parents and children alike. “As a parent myself [he has four children: Elliot, 13, Laura, 11, Emily, 9 and Reiley, 6], I appreciate people who build into my kid’s lives,” he says. “I think parents see me as a partner in bringing Christ into their children’s lives.”

As a child, Colin liked performers who were a bit quirky and unpredictable such as Basil Brush or Rolf Harris. And perhaps one can detect a certain ‘Rolf Harris-ness’ in his conscious use of Australian phrases, icons and places in his songs. Currently his country music career takes second place to his children’s ministry, but it is by no means on the back burner. He released an album last year called Land of the Getaway and recently performed at the Deniliquin Ute Muster with artists such as John Williamson and Troy Cassar-Daley.

His interest in country music was sparked by the time he and wife Robyn spent living in a caravan at Bourke. Over 15 years ago the couple moved to this remote area of NSW to deepen their relationship with God, away from the materialism of life in Sydney. This they achieved, but in the process Colin developed an interest in county music and songwriting and eventually gave up his teaching job to record an album and become a full-time singer/songwriter.

In the years since, he has won six Golden Guitar awards, and has written songs with Lee Kernaghan, Adam Brand and Troy Cassar-Daley. His song ‘Hat Town’, which he co-wrote with Lee Kernaghan, won an APRA Award, while his Christmas album, which includes an Aussie Jingle Bells, is now a staple at end-of-year school concerts.

With this pedigree, one would expect Colin to be the epitomy of the ‘true-blue, dinky-di’ Aussie. But in fact he was born in Dublin, in the Republic of Ireland, and came to Australia with his family when he was six. Initially the family settled in Melbourne, but quickly moved to Sydney. It was during those years that he gave his life to Christ. Becoming a Christian at such a relatively young age is one of the reasons he is so passionate about communicating the Christian message to children.

A rebellious teenage period followed, which ended when he left high school and made a number of strong friendships while attending St Giles’ Presbyterian Church at Hurstville, with Christians who were truly excited to have a relationship with God. One of his closest friends at that time wrote songs and played guitar. “God is gracious in reaching into our lives,” he says of a friendship that put him on the road to his current ministry.

For a man who has already succeeded in making his mark in two fields it is hard to imagine Colin embarking on a third. But perhaps it is only natural that the man who can delight adults with his country music and children with his praise songs should venture to produce an album of praise songs for adults. God of Wonders, his latest album, is for ‘Australians of all ages’.  But his younger audience should not despair. Baa, Baa Doo Baa Baa, his most recent album of ‘Aussie Praise for Kids!’ promises not to disappoint, with more spiritual truths and upbeat numbers.