Joshua Hayden Cunningham is an Australian

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

, vocalist and songwriter who is one-third of

folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...

band

the Waifs The Waifs (originally styled as The WAiFS) are an Australian folk rock band formed in 1992 by sisters Vikki Thorn (harmonica, guitar, vocals) and Donna Simpson (musician), Donna Simpson (guitar, vocals) as well as Josh Cunningham (guitar, vocal ...

. Note: nlineversion established at White Room Electronic Publishing Pty Ltd in 2007 and was expanded from the 2002 edition. His involvement with the Waifs has resulted in a total of four

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival Records (Australia), Festival, Sony Music ...

(ARIA)

Award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An award may be d ...

wins, all in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

for '' Up All Night'' and ten further nominations. Cunningham has released five studio albums with The Waifs and co-writes songs with fellow members Donna Simpson and

Vikki Thorn Vikki Elizabeth Thorn (née Simpson, born c. 1974) is an Australian harmonica player, guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter and one-third of the Australian folk rock band the Waifs. Her elder sister, Donna Simpson, also plays guitar and sings in ...

, including "Lighthouse", which was nominated for

ARIA Award for Single of the Year The ARIA Music Award for Single of the Year/Song of the Year, is an award presented at the annual ARIA Music Awards, which recognises "the many achievements of Aussie artists across all music genres", since 1987. It is handed out by the Austr ...

at the

ARIA Music Awards of 2003 The 17th Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as ARIA Music Awards) were held on 21 October 2003 at the Sydney Superdome. The ceremony aired on Network Ten. Awards ''Winners highlighted in bold, with no ...

. Cunningham has been a regular member of

Missy Higgins Melissa Morrison "Missy" Higgins (born 19 August 1983) is an Australian singer-songwriter and musician. Her most popular singles include "Scar", " Steer", and " Where I Stood". Her Australian number-one albums are '' The Sound of White'' (2004 ...

's backing band, performed on her album ''On a Clear Night'' and appeared in her live shows. He has constructed some of the guitars he plays, both acoustic and electric.

Biography

Joshua Cunningham grew up on a farm in

Moruya Moruya ( ) is a town located on the South Coast (New South Wales), far south coast of New South Wales, Australia, situated on the Moruya River. The Princes Highway runs through the town that is about south of Sydney and from Canberra. At the , ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, and picked up his first

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

in 1987. He met Donna and Vikki Simpson while the two sisters played gigs in Broome, in 1992. At the time, Cunningham played

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

in an all-male band. Donna Simpson described, on The Waifs' official website, how they met: Cunningham has been a member of The Waifs ever since. Josh Cunningham at WA Art Gallery 9 03 2017

Josh Cunningham at WA Art Gallery 9 03 2017

Cunningham was nominated for six awards at the 2024 Country Music Awards of Australia.

Discography

Solo studio albums

Awards and nominations

AIR Awards

The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as

AIR Awards The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. History The inaugural 2006 awards were held at Blacket Hot ...

) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector. , - ,

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, ''The Song Club'' (with Felicity Urquhart) , Best Independent Country Album or EP ,

ARIA Music Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

is an annual ceremony presented by

(ARIA), which recognise excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of the

music of Australia The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions o ...

. They commenced in 1987. ! , - ,

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, , ''The Song Club'' (with Felicity Urquhart), , Best Country Album , , , , -

Country Music Awards of Australia

The

Country Music Awards of Australia The Country Music Awards of Australia also known as the Golden Guitar Awards (originally named Australasian Country Music Awards) is an annual awards night held in January during the Tamworth Country Music Festival, in Tamworth, New South Wale ...

is an annual awards night held in January during the

Tamworth Country Music Festival The Tamworth Country Music Festival is an annual Australian music festival held for 10 days from Friday to Sunday in mid to late January each year, sometimes including Australia Day, in Tamworth, New South Wales, Tamworth, New South Wales. The f ...

. Celebrating recording excellence in the

Australian country music Australian country music is a part of the music of Australia. There is a broad range of styles, from bluegrass, to yodeling to folk to the more popular. The genre has been influenced by Celtic and English folk music, the Australian bush balla ...

industry. They commenced in 1973. ! , - , rowspan="4", 2022 , , Felicity Urquhart & Josh Cunningham , , Group or Duo of the Year , , , , rowspan="4", , - , ''The Song Club'' , , Alt. Country Album of the Year , , , - , ''The Song Club'' , , Album of the Year , , , - , "Spare Parts" , , Video of the Year , , , - , 2023 , , "Bogswamp" (written by Josh Cunningham) – Recorded by Felicity Urquhart & Josh Cunningham , , Heritage Song of the Year , , , , , , - , rowspan="6", 2024 , , ''Birdsong'' (with Felicity Urquhart) , , Album of the Year , , , , rowspan="6", , - , ''Birdsong'' (with Felicity Urquhart) , , Traditional County Album of the Year , , , - , "Size Up" (with Felicity Urquhart), , Single of the Year , , , - , "Size Up" (with Felicity Urquhart), , Song of the Year , , , - , "Size Up" (with Felicity Urquhart)
(dir. Duncan Toombs & The Filmery), , Video of the Year , , , - , Josh Cunningham & Felicity Urquhart, , Group or Duo of the Year , , , -

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham, Josh Musicians from Western Australia Australian guitarists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) The Waifs members