William Crighton is firmly in the second camp, a NSW country boy who has stayed true to his roots since he launched his first album four years ago.

Raised in the Riverina, he now calls Bellbird in the Hunter Valley home. His style is hard to define, criss-crossing blues, roots, country, rock, gospel and folk. But his appeal is 100 per cent based on an audience connecting to an original character.

His imposing physique and deep voice enhance his storytelling.

The whole package has seen him gain traction with European audiences after two albums, breaking into the festival circuit there last year.

The 2020 year started for him with a handful of dates opening for Missy Higgins, and an appearance at the Port Fairy Folk Festival.

He also recorded a big chunk of a new album - his third - in March at Byron Bay, in Christian Pyle's studio.

The plan was to keep it simple, with a small, tight group in the studio including his wife Julieanne, drummer Matt Sherrod and maybe one or two others.

It was a continuation of his experiment with different combinations for a band on the road, which has varied from him as a solo act; to him and Julieanne; him, Julieanne and Sherrod; and with more elements or different players, including extraordinary didge player William Barton, drummer and harmonica player Reuben Alexander, and Will's brother Luke on bass.

Crighton was set to embark on a 50-plus date tour of Europe running from May through August that included festivals and some of his own headline shows, but that was before the COVID pandemic.

The tour is off now, at least for 2020.

But, Crighton will still be putting out some new music in 2020.

While lying low at home during the pandemic, he's kept busy, working his veggie garden with Julieanne, spending time with his kids, Olive and Abigail, and, of course, writing, playing music and telling stories.

He was recently reading a Philip K Dick science fiction novel (Dr Futurity) orally on instagram, and he popped up this week doing a fireside acoustic gig in his backyard for the Lounge Room Sessions on Facebook.

Next Tuesday, April 28, he will do a music session on his own Facebook and instagram accounts, starting at 8pm, featuring mostly covers by request.

I caught up with him in February face to face, before COVID and before he started recording his album. The one certainty: Crighton was confident he was on the track he wanted to be - the one that only he travels.

"At end of the day, I like to write about what's under my nose," he says.

"The nose is everything. On the other side of the world, they might be different in some ways, but we all go through the same things. I try to investigate those things within myself. I try not to be too preachy."

As the value of great live performance has returned to centre stage, as in becoming a big earner for musicians, the purpose of making an album has been under scrutiny. It costs time and money, and is not the leading source of income.

Still, it has its place, particularly as marker for where a music artist is at a point in time.

Crighton is in total agreement. "The songs evolve, songs change," he says. "I get inspired by artists like Neil Young and Frank Zappa, who weren't afraid to do multiple versions of songs, even early in their career, and continue that trend as well. New material, revamping old material. That was the frame for the whole thing, rather than having been dictated to to fit into this cycle ...

"It's more person to person I feel now, for me anyway."

And what kind of theme is likely to wash over this new album?

"Just an honest message, where I'm at," he says. "It will be what it will be. Definitely writing from the heart about the things I'm thinking about. What's going on.

"But also the positive things. Sometimes joy gets left behind. I'm guilty of that as well, focusing on the shit that really gets me riled ... I have so much to be happy about it, and I think this album is going to have a bit of that on it. I feel like it needs that, I need that."

Crighton knows he's gotten this far by being honest in his music, and he doesn't see any change in course to chase greater fame.

"I'm always searching," he says. "I'm happy searching. Happy searching. Telling some stories, but then letting other stories be about the search for those stories.

"I'm OK with that. I'm OK with not knowing. I'm also OK with not having to subscribe to any one particular genre just for sake of fitting in so I can be part of something."

"I'm happy. I've got a great family. I've got a great little place on earth. I've got a nice fan base as it is, I'm happy it's growing. I don't need to do all that shit. If I continue to get popular, that's fine. I'll continue to be true about it."

It feels like Crighton was made for these times. He's observant and opinionated, keen to fight for a better environment, a better world, and not afraid to learn how to be a better man, a better human being.