Steeped in blues and country music, Liam Gerner 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. Now based in Melbourne, Liam has developed his songwriting, collaborated with local musicians and formed The Sunset Pushers, a band as fluid and soulful as his songs.
“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.”
The result of all this touring, listening, collaborating and writing is a new album, Liam Gerner and The Sunset Pushers. Recorded in both Melbourne and Malibu, this album finds Liam sweating raw roots rock’n’roll.
“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 US and Australian influences and musical friends has helped shape my new music.”
Liam Gerner and The Sunset Pushers is released worldwide on February 10, 2017.