LIAM GERNER –

Biography

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 and his follow up ‘Liam Gerner and the Sunset Pushers’ (2017).

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.  Liam tours extensively in Australia/New Zealand and is an in demand guitarist working touring and recording with The Eurogliders, Pnau, Pnau & Elton John, records with Empire Of The Sun, and Vika and Linda Bull.

“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 Gerner and the Sunset Pushers’ 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 was released in June 2017.

Liam Gerner and his collaborator Nashville based Luke Moller recorded ‘The Bulletin Debate’ a collection of poems Liam turned to song. The poems were written in 1892 between Henry Lawson and Banjo Patterson, printed weekly in the Bulletin newspaper and reflect their differing opinions about our relationship with the Australian bush. This album is to be released in 2021.

Liam Gerner also has a duo called Django Braveheart that brings together two dedicated and accomplished devotees of the acoustic guitar to create a unique and wild instrumental experience. Fusing classical and modern composition and playing with the extremes between tight orchestration and free improvisation. With a range of eclectic influences from the pioneers of the jazz movement to Brahms and Jimmy Page they create a fast moving journey through the modern history of the guitar. A singer/songwriter with his own right, Liam has toured the globe extensively over the past decade. Keir Nuttall is guitarist and collaborator with Kate Miller-Heidke and has played guitar with Ben Folds, the Melbourne, Sydney, Tasmania, Adelaide and Perth Symphony Orchestras in a Helpmann award winning show.