There’s nothing like starting a national tour having released the number one selling Australian album in 2015. That’s exactly what Lee Kernaghan did two nights ago having seen his 2015 release ‘Spirit Of The Anzacs’ storm the charts and the hearts and minds of ordinary Aussies everywhere.
As Kernaghan himself says, “(the album) truly resonated in the hearts of thousands of people across the country”. That it did. ‘Spirit Of The Anzacs’ picked up ARIA awards, sold more units than any other album last year and was a special release for Kernaghan – one that held significance like no album he’d made previously.
“Every song on the album is based on a diary entry of a soldier or nurse. Just regular stories of ANZACs. They’re not songs about war but about valour, endurance and mateship,” he says.
Those songs will form the second part of Kernaghan’s shows on tour. The other part will be a wander down memory lane of Kernaghan’s own highly successful career dating back over 20 years. And this will be his biggest tour to date.
“There’s about 30 people involved in the production. It’s the biggest production I’ve had on the road. There will be a multi-media experience as well as the show. I’ve had 34 number one singles and we’ll be playing plenty of them. There’s a part of the show where I talk about Charles Bean (War Correspondent and historian). He was on the frontline with the troops in WW1 and was there while writing his war diaries,” Kernaghan says.
For Kernaghan, touring resonates so highly because it’s an opportunity for him to meet with and talk to Australians from all walks of life, to hear their stories and troubles and to get some feedback about the issues in their lives.
“It’s just great to be a part of the audience when touring. The audience age range is five to 95 – right across the spectrum. They hear all the hits taken from the pages of my life. I like to get a pulse for what is happening. Many of my songs are based on stories I hear, and of documenting people’s experiences and lives. I think people respond so well because they are just songs about us. It’s not rocket science. It’s the richness of the experience that makes the songs,” he says.
Kernaghan, born in country Victoria, released his first album The Outback Club in 1993. Unlike most American sugar-coated country music stars, Kernaghan’s music touched a nerve with ordinary Aussies, and a music juggernaut was born. His hit single ‘Boys From The Bush’ was massive, and opened up country music to a whole new audience – an audience that has been as loyal to Kernaghan as he has to his roots as a musician and writer.
In a career that has spanned more than two decades Kernaghan has had many hits, great selling albums and in 2008 the Australian Of The Year award for his tireless work in outback Australia, raising much needed funds in times of drought and bushfires. But it’s his work on ‘Spirit Of The Anzacs’ that makes him most proud.
“It’s the high watermark of my career. I’ve had the privilege to put the words of the diggers to music. Such an honour,” he says.
And if Kernaghan thought for a second that this recent project would upset or bring back bad memories for anyone, he has been pleasantly surprised by the influx of letters, comments and many shaken hands he’s received from diggers, family members of those passed and strangers who appreciate Kernaghan’s work in keeping these essential momentos of war alive. Alive and at the forefront of the younger generation, who will be able to listen to the music and do their own research into a period of time that changed and shaped a nation in equal measures.
“Songs can be a powerful instrument for change. For example, the healing that Redgum’s ‘I Was Only 19 (I Walk In The Light Green)’ brought was incredible.” And this from a war (Vietnam) that many Australians, and diggers who served there try hard to forget or not discuss such was the shoddy treatment of those involved at the time. That healing is helped by the work of Kernaghan.
Kernaghan’s national tour hits Costa Hall in Geelong on May 20th, a place held dear to his heart. “It’s a major city with a massive country heart”. The tour will also take in Ballarat and Warrnambool.
Kernaghan does few things by half – after this tour ends its back into the studio and more new work on the horizon. “We tour through to June then I go back into the studio working on new music. It’s the anniversary soon for Boys From The Bush so that will be big.”
Written by Chris Michaels
When & Where: Costa Hall, Geelong – May 20, Her Majesty’s Theatre, Ballarat – May 21, Lighthouse Theatre, Warrnambool – May 22 & Frankston Arts Centre, Frankston – May 29