Independence is the key ingredient to making an artist great, according to singer songwriter Damien Leith.

The 2006 Australian Idol winner says the success of acts such as Ben Harper and John Butler proved Australian audiences were "craving some strong independent voices".

"We're looking for new music, new sounds... songs that are about something more than just what you can get through commercial pop," he says in his pronounced, Irish vowels.

"Most of the acts that I look up to never aimed to achieve commercial success and that's why they're legendary and they've lasted the test of time... and coming from Ireland, I can definitely say that I'm for independence."

This commitment to autonomy may seem suspicious - given Leith's heavily commercial TV launch pad - but investigate the man behind the Idol moniker and it's clear he's about more than the mainstream.

Leith is quick to disassociate himself from the pop product churned out by the Network Ten music machine; while he retains respect for those who understand what audiences want, he paints a different picture for his future.

"I've never regarded myself as a pop act... I tried to push Where We Land (his second album) in a certain direction, though, when you go through a popular show that attracts a broad audience, you need to respect that," Leith says.

"So with that album, the songs that I wrote for it represented only a third of what I'm really about."

It's the Irish tradition of folk music that Leith most identifies with his new album, Catch the Wind: Songs of a Generation, which he sees as the next step towards his desired destination.

A collection of songs from his favourite artists, including Bob Dylan, Cat Stevens and Don McLean, Leith's inspiration for the album stems from an acute awareness of what his audience wants.

"The idea of the came about because I'm writing an original and I didn't think it was the right thing to jump straight into that," Leith says.

"I don't want to shock anyone and this way, through Catch the Wind, they can get a taste of what I like and what's inspired me.

"We tried not to shy away from some of the more controversial songs and we tried to stay true to their era in which they were created.

"The great songwriters of the '60s and '70s have always been a major influence on my own original material and, in many ways, the songs of that generation are as relevant today as they were back then.

"It really points in the direction of what the next album is."

Leith will perform at the Logan Diggers on June 20.

Catch the Wind: Songs of a Generation is in stores now.