The year that changed Holly Rankin's life was 2018.
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Better known as Jack River, the 27-year-old musician released her debut album two years ago pushing her songs into everyone's heads.
In about two weeks, she will kick of Party in the Paddock's last ever pre-party.
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In the midst of preparing to release her second album Rankin, who is behind songs such as Fools Gold, Fault Line, and Confess, still cannot believe this is her life now.
"I hoped that I would get there. The feeling of playing to like 10,000 people no one can prepare you for. It's pretty surreal and I still find it very magic," she said.
"I guess having your music and story understood and shared like that is so incredible. It drastically changed my life and my world."
Her EP will be released on Valentines Day, so she is promising PITP crowds a sneak peek of those new tunes.
"It's actually the first festival where I really get to play new music. So the band and I are really excited to get to play new music or first festival for 2020 in Tassie with all new songs," she said.
Having never been to PITP before, she has heard it's a really fun festival to play at.
"I'm not kidding when I say I heard it's one of the best festivals to play," she said.
However, there is so much more to Rankin than music.
Besides running a musical festival in her home town, she also held a climate change forum before one of her gigs last year.
"I'm super passionate in connecting young people with the climate change movement and finding a political solution for that," she said.
"As an artist, I get to travel around and be with a couple of thousand people at a time, but I don't get to talk to them and have any kind of conversation. And I find that really weird."
With a bunch of different climate change experts, including Doctor Karl, all from different fields, Rankin held a panel that about 200 people attended.
They talked for an hour about what climate change is, the struggles in the country and the struggle to connect with the issue.
"It was really successful and I hope to do more of those type of things in 2020 so I can have more of a conversation with my listeners because I know they care about the same sort of stuff as me," she said.
Her connection to the climate goes back a number of years including her dipping in and out of university for the past eight years.
She started a political economics degree, along with some environmental studies and law units.
Rankin wished those interests combined with her music more, but also doesn't want to feel like she is "fabricating" songs.
"I did it in Constellation Bowl on the Sugar Mountain album. So that's one in the bag. But I find you can't really force the song," she said.
"It's hard for people to connect unless they feel a part of it.
"I don't really write unless I really need to write. I don't spend too much time waiting for songs or trying to write. I literally only write when I need to."
But how did she come up with the name Jack River?
"My friends and I made up pirate names when we were 17. Mine was my was Jack River and I just felt invincible and wild when we would go out on the town and use our pirate names," she said.
My friends and I made up pirate names when we were 17. Mine was my was Jack River and I just felt invincible and wild when we would go out on the town and use our pirate names.
- Jack River
"But I also at the time I wanted my music to not be judged by being a male or female I wanted a name that made people actually go and listen to the music before judging it."
Jack River will play on Thursday night.
The final Party in the Paddock will be held from February 6 until 9 at White Hills.
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