When people think about country music, a certain image often springs to mind.
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The stereotypes are prevalent: faded denim, cold beer, souped-up trucks and red-blooded patriotism.
What people don’t tend to imagine is an Australian woman working at a local school in between playing sold-out festivals and recording with her Golden Guitar-winning band.
Cassie Leopold doesn’t mind, though.
For her, music has never been about fitting into a certain mould, or being commercially successful.
“I never wanted to do any of the music for fame, glory, accolades and attention,” Leopold said.
Despite that, they certainly found her.
Growing up on the Mornington Peninsula, Leopold quickly immersed herself in the performing arts.
“My first performance on stage was when I was about three or four,” she said.
“It’s just always been in me and I can’t remove myself from it.”
This passion eventually led her to Pagan Newman, who she sang with for several years.
The pair was introduced to Jason Resch, subsequently forming Darlinghurst in 2017, and adding guitarist Matt Darvidis two years later.
Success came quickly, with the band’s self-titled 2021 debut album landing at number one on the ARIA country charts and number nine on the association’s all-genre rankings.
Its momentum continued, winning a Golden Guitar award for new talent of the year at the 2022 Country Music Awards of Australia and touring extensively.
But in late 2023, Resch and Darvidis left the group, citing creative differences.
What fans didn’t know was that for much of the end of the band’s run as a four-piece, and the years after, several of its members faced significant health issues.
Leopold herself was dealing with breast cancer.
“I never really spoke to anybody (outside the band) about it because I really wanted it to not be my story,” she said.
Leopold even altered her treatment schedule so she could still perform with Darlinghurst at the CMC Rocks festival in 2023.
“I had triple doses of radiation therapy before I went there because I was going to miss treatment (to play),” she said.
“I was really unwell.”
The band briefly continued as a duo after Resch and Darvidis’ departures, travelling to Nashville to collaborate with acclaimed songwriter Phil Barton.
The pair released three singles as Darlinghurst, including Unapologetic, which peaked at number one on the Australian country radio charts.
But in early 2025, Newman announced her departure, leaving Leopold as the group’s sole member.
After a quiet period, Darlinghurst officially relaunched in its current form at the 2026 Tamworth Country Music Festival.
The line-up now includes former Darlinghurst touring musicians Nathan Perry, Ryan Di Cecco and a man whose contact Cassie simply has saved as “Jonno the drummer”.
Leopold said this iteration of the group, with her as the only singer-songwriter, allowed her to share her own stories, from her own perspective.
“This time around, I feel it’s a more authentic approach to the stories I want to tell,” she said.
Leopold is well aware that this approach may not be viewed favourably by the music industry.
“I’m not here (for relevance), she said.
“I’m here for me, and I’m just hoping my music breaks through.”
Despite almost being broken by the music industry — which she sometimes describes as “the machine” — songwriting and performing remains a cathartic form of release for Leopold.
“I can’t describe what it’s like when I’m on stage,” she said.
“I feel untouchable. It’s just my space, my little world.”
Realising the benefits that making music brought her eventually led Leopold to get involved with St Joseph’s College in Echuca.
Without any formal teaching qualifications, she began assisting the school’s music department.
In 2025, she helped launch the Performing Arts Academy, a specialised program catering for aspiring performers and visual artists, which she co-leads.
“To be able to do my gigs and perform and then go to a job that’s also still within the industry that I love, passing over my knowledge and experience to young people, watching them flourish and glow and become confident young adults, it's pretty inspiring,” she said.
Leopold has balanced this role with her recording commitments for Darlinghurst, which is finalising an album and preparing to launch its latest single, Big Gee Wizz, in September.
The single’s title is a reference to a skit from the ABC’s Black Comedy, which became an inside joke in Leopold’s husband’s family to refer to a person acting “overly flashy or trying to big-note themselves”.
“I went ‘you know what, I’m going to write a song about this because there are elements of the industry where there are certain people who are like that’,” Leopold said.
Next on the agenda for Darlinghurst is a slot at Leopold’s favourite festival, Gympie Music Muster in Queensland.
Alhough she loves her adopted home of Echuca-Moama, Leopold is keen to spend more time touring, particularly in Nashville.
“I want to make a name for (us) as credible artists overseas,” she said.
“I want to play live as much as I can.”
After a long journey, with dizzying highs and debilitating lows, Leopold’s idea of success may surprise some.
“I’m not chasing fame and fortune,” she said.
“I feel like I’m successful because I'm still performing.”