Lee Kernaghan - I Am What I Am

Lee Kernaghan is in WA performing shows in support of his latest album, The New Bush. POLLY COUFOS reports.

Over the years country has been a temporary, or occasional home for many artists. On the Australian landscape the likes of Jimmy Barnes are steadily working at shoring up support within the country crowd, Bernard Fanning is currently hinting at an appreciation on his solo album and Paul Kelly regularly comes and goes with outfits like The Stormwater Boys.

Lee Kernaghan is looking for no such options for himself. Where those guys are broadening their horizons, he simply continues to do all he ever wanted to do: to play his brand of country music for as many people as he can.

Look at the track listing of his latest album, The New Bush, and the titles fit in with what we have come to expect from the man who brought us The Boys From The Bush and brought to life the new generation of country fan in the early part of the last decade. Songs such as Where I Come From, Diamentina Dream (which is a duet with Trisha Yearwood), Livin' In Australia and When Country Comes all sound familiar, and to a certain extent they are. Once again he has worked with long time producer Garth Porter and the pair of them co-wrote the whole album with Colin Buchanan, so there is a recognition at work almost immediately.

Where The New Bush deviates is in the warmth and fullness of his singing. This is down to a few factors. One is that Kernaghan had vocal lessons in Nashville. Nothing too new there, for in all aspects of his trade he has been on a path of improvement all through his career. The other important change was down to the use of particular microphones and studios.

"I was listening to a lot of the records that I really love and usually there is a common thread with all the great vocalists," Kernaghan said from Brisbane last week where he was in the midst of his biggest national tour yet.

"It is microphones, pre-amps and the compressor. I was thinking about buying all this gear and bringing it to Sydney, then I realised I should just go there and use the equipment that is creating the sound I am loving.

"I went to Oceanway in Nashville and you should see the mic stands in that place. They are as big as a football. I wanted to make an Australian record that sounded like an American record."

This is most apparent in Little Men, Kernaghan's ode to his two sons, where he makes a point of singing in an Australian accent.

"I'm an Australian singer and I'm singing about my family and I'm trying to be as real to life as I can and I don't think I would be being real and true if I told it in another accent.

"I think it's important to be proud of where you come from and to be proud of your culture. I think and hope that's what you find on my records, that I'm not trying to be anything more or less than I am."

Courtesy Xpress Guide 9/8/2006