Singer songwriter LIAM GERNER and his new band the Sunset Pushers are glad to announce their new self titled album out February 10 2017 (MGM).
Twelve years ago, aged twenty one Liam left the Adelaide hills to try his luck in London. The young guitar slinger quickly made a strong impression and earned a crust opening for Paul Weller, Jason Isbell, Drive by Truckers, Paolo Nutini and many more. Liam then headed to the US, joined Texan country rocker Ryan Bingham’s band and experienced frontline American roots music. Returning to Australia in 2014, Liam released his debut album ‘Land Of No Roads’, a startling collection of original songs he composed while touring with Bingham and cut with some of LA’s finest players.
Since then Liam has been touring relentlessly throughout Australia, New Zealand and the USA. As the result of all this touring, listening, collaborating and writing is this new album, Liam Gerner and The Sunset Pushers. Recorded in both Melbourne and Malibu, this album finds Liam sweating raw roots rock’n’roll.
“Since returning to Australia, much of my writing has been focussed around my connection to home,” says Liam. “That being the conflicting emotions and realities of what it means to be Australian. My blood has been reboiled by listening afresh to Midnight Oil, Archie Roach and The Cruel Sea while my mind’s been expanded by the bush poetry of Don Watson, Neil Murray and Banjo Patterson.”
“What drives me is the storytelling, great musicianship, books, laughing, politics and matters of the heart.” says Liam. “Recently I have got off my solo-donkey and collaborated as much as I can in the writing, recording and gigging process.”
Liam is steeped in both Americana and Australiana and on this album he fuses the sound of the outback with that of rowdy Texan bars. Here the hardest working man in Oz rock defiantly comes into his own as a major singer and songwriter.
“While touring a few years ago in the US in Ryan Bingham’s band I got to meet some heroes in the US,” says Liam. “I got to play songs with Jackson Browne in LA, trade licks with Dale Watson in Austin and jam with locals in South Central LA juke joints. I even got to play Johnny Cash’s J200 at Marty Stuart’s house and discuss songwriting with Tom T Hall in Nashville. All these experiences helped prepare me for working in the Australian music community. And embracing my Australian and US influences and musical friends has helped shape my new music.”
Liam has been invited to showcase at Folk Alliance International in Kansas City USA in February and will be touring Australia in May 2017.