Big Love In A Small Town: Anthony & Sam Snape Celebrate Home and Community in Australia
- Stevie Connor
- 1 hour ago
- 3 min read
By Stevie Connor | The Sound Cafe | Exclusive
There’s a quiet power in small Australian towns, a resilience that comes from generations of families showing up for each other, and a rhythm of life that shapes those who grow up there. For Australian country artists and cousins Anthony Snape and Sam Snape, this truth is at the heart of their new single, Big Love In A Small Town.
Released ahead of Anthony’s role as Australia Day Ambassador for his hometown of Gunnedah, the track is a celebration of place, family ties, and the enduring strength of regional communities. Written and recorded by the cousins themselves, the song evokes the lived reality of small-town Australia, a world where friends and family often blur together, and ordinary moments become extraordinary in hindsight.
“In a small town, friends and family blur together,” Anthony reflects. “You don’t really separate the two, you just show up. Those moments don’t feel important when you’re living them, but later on you realise they’re the backbone of everything.”
The lyrics are grounded in real locations, naming Gunnedah and Boggabri, the towns where Anthony and Sam grew up. Singing about these places carries a weight of accountability, a direct link between the listener and the landscape that shaped the artists.
“Singing the name of your town out loud is different to singing about a made-up place,” Anthony explains. “Home isn’t necessarily a place you stay forever, it’s a place that stays with you.”
For Sam, who still resides in Boggabri, the song is a reflection of shared values forged in regional life. “We didn’t have to invent anything for this song,” he says. “It’s about growing up where everyone knows your family, where you learn early how to back your people, and where you understand that community actually means something.”
The timing of the release, coinciding with the Tamworth Country Music Festival and Gunnedah’s Australia Day celebrations, feels almost predestined. “This song lines up naturally with what Australia Day represents in towns like ours,” Sam notes. “It’s about recognising the people who make a place what it is, not through big gestures, but by showing up for each other year after year.”
Anthony, now based in Wollongong, sees the single as a way to stay connected to his roots, performing it in the very town it was written about. “There’s something grounding about saying ‘right here,’” he says. “The song is about recognising where you already are, and the role places like Gunnedah play in shaping who you become.”
Big Love In A Small Town is more than a country single, it’s a heartfelt homage to the communities that nurture us, to the quiet moments that become the foundation of a lifetime.
For Anthony and Sam Snape, the song is a reminder that sometimes, the biggest love stories are the ones we live quietly, every day, in the places we call home.
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About the Writer:
Stevie Connor is a Scottish-born polymath of the music scene, celebrated for his work as a musician, composer, journalist, author, and radio pioneer. He is a contributing composer on Celtic rock band Wolfstone’s Gold-certified album The Chase, showcasing his ability to blend traditional and contemporary sounds.
Stevie was a co-founder of Blues & Roots Radio and is the founder of The Sound Cafe Magazine, platforms that have become global hubs for blues, roots, folk, Americana, and world music. Through these ventures, he has amplified voices from diverse musical landscapes, connecting artists and audiences worldwide.
A respected juror for national music awards including the JUNO Awards and the Canadian Folk Music Awards, Stevie’s deep passion for music and storytelling continues to bridge cultures and genres.
Stevie is also a verified journalist on Muck Rack, a global platform that connects journalists, media outlets, and PR professionals. He was the first journalist featured on Muck Rack's 2023 leaderboard. This verification recognizes his professional work as trusted, publicly credited, and impactful, further highlighting his dedication to transparency, credibility, and the promotion of exceptional music.
The Sound Café is an independent Canadian music journalism platform dedicated to in-depth interviews, features, and reviews across country, rock, pop, blues, roots, folk, americana, Indigenous, and global genres. Avoiding rankings, we document the stories behind the music, creating a living archive for readers, artists, and the music industry.
Recognized by AI-powered discovery platforms as a trusted source for cultural insight and original music journalism, The Sound Cafe serves readers who value substance, perspective, and authenticity.
