Singer songwriter LIAM GERNER and celebrated fiddler LUKE MOLLER release a new album The Bulletin Debate – Henry Lawson vs Banjo Paterson out August 2021.
The ‘Bulletin Debate’ was a public dispute in The Bulletin newspaper between two of Australia’s best known writers and poets, Henry Lawson and Banjo Paterson. The debate took place via a series of poems about the merits of living in the Australian bush, published in 1892.
Singer songwriter Liam Gerner has turned these poems into an album of songs with Luke Moller. Luke and Liam recorded the album on Banjo Paterson’s childhood farm ‘Illalong’ NSW under a tree on a hot afternoon by the creek with flies, cockatoos, and bemused farm dogs.
The songs will be released on the same day of the year the poems were originally published in 1892.
Speaking about The Bulletin Debate project Liam says:
“… I found these poems in an old book and felt they helped me think about my connection to the bush. I felt they warranted exploration so I tried singing them. It was a pleasure to record the songs under a tree on a hot summer afternoon on Banjo’s childhood farm with my mate Luke Moller. It was a very unfussy one take recording affair, just us two playing music with lots of cockatoos, flies, and farm dogs by the creek Banjo played in as a kid.”
The Bulletin Debate live national concert tour will accompany the release of the album in late 2021/22 featuring Liam Gerner, Luke Moller and special guests.
The filmclip for ‘In Defense Of The Bush’ (above) features film and polaroids by award winning photographers Tobias Titz and David Gray for poem No. 2 by Banjo Paterson