As I travel around the country I am seeing something new emerging across regional Australia. It is a new way of doing things, taking the great traditions that made the bush what it is today and blending it with the new. There's innovation, new technology and new potential, it's almost as if there's a quiet revolution going on...some people call it the new bush."
(Lee Kernaghan)

Born in the bush, Corryong Victoria, on the foothills of the Snowy Mountains high country is where Lee's life began. The son of a truck driver and later multi platinum recording artist Ray Kernaghan, Lee spent his formative years growing up in the Riverina country of Southern NSW. Lee's Grandfather was a third generation drover of sheep and cattle and his experiences on the road with his Pop ran deep, producing a string of hits that began with the release of his first album the ARIA award winning" Outback Club" in 1992. His first number one hit "Boys from the Bush" became an anthem, a celebration of a way of life that would change the face of Australian country music forever.

Lee Kernaghan has dominated the charts with successive hit albums including "Three Chain Road", "1959", "Hat Town" and "Electric Rodeo" making him Hit Maker of the Decade and creating a new musical landscape along the way. He has done to country music in Australia what Garth Brooks did in the USA...he blurred the line and took country music out of the box that it had existed in for decades...He added a spectacular live show and along the way has sold over one million albums, won 20 Golden Guitars, 3 Aria Awards, 21 number 1 hits, 7 hit albums and now with the release of his 8th album 'The New Bush' he's done it again, his stellar career continues.

"It took us over a year to write and record 'The New Bush'...in retrospect each album I've recorded has been another chapter in my life story. In many ways these 13 new songs mirror how I feel about life, love and spirit...the stories I've encountered and the mood of things out there."
(Lee Kernaghan)

"The New Bush is about a new breed of people on the land...it's about embracing new technologies...doing it smarter...it's about staying on the land...making a go of it. Lee Kernaghan's always been able to read the subtle shifts in the psychology of the bush...and the spirit of The New Bush is in his music...that's why this album is so strong."
(Alan Jones - Broadcaster)

From the very first track and the earthy vocal performance of "Where I come from", you can't help but think this is a very different sounding Lee Kernaghan. There's a new sonic landscape that breathes freshness into his music, with less layering and more to the point lyrically. "The New Bush" is more rootsy in a modern way, kind of more country...that's not to say it doesn't rock...it's an album that is a musical parallel to what's happening in the bush.

Highlights include "Listen to the radio", a song that evokes the loneliness of a midnight drive through the graveyard shift somewhere on the plains past the Namoi. "With every mile the signal fades, I turn it up so it won't slip away, like you and me...semis on the interstate, ruby taillights pass and float away...like a memory."

The title track "The New Bush" has got the goosebump factor and climaxes with special guest vocals from Australian music icon Daryl Braithwaite.

"Lee nailed this song like never before...the spirit and the music make it one of my all time favorite Lee Kernaghan songs".
(Garth Porter- Record Producer)

Then there's the hauntingly beautiful "Diamantina Dream"- featuring superb vocals from Grammy Award winning artist Trisha Yearwood who joined Lee on harmonies for the recording of this mesmerizing ballad.

In Lee's hands the humble Ute / four wheel drive has been lifted to almost mythical status. "Love Shack "brings a brand new dimension to the story. Lee said, "The approach to writing the album was quite different to previous records. I spent a lot of time experimenting with different tempos and grooves outside of country and finding ways to marry the various musical forms together."

"I'll Remember You" was inspired by the 19th century poet Elizabeth Barret Browning's sonnet, "How do I Love Thee" which tells of her undying love for her husband John. Lee explains, "The idea of a love so strong that it lasts beyond life itself is a theme that resonates with me in a most profound way and goes to the heart of how I feel about life and love."

In "Livin' in Australia" Lee openly declares his love for the people, the land and the things that make our Australian culture and identity distinctive. "Little Men" is one of Lee's most personal songs to date. Recorded with all acoustic instruments, it's one of those songs that you truly have to have lived before you can write it. Other highlights include the sublime "Like Angels" and the explosive, "When Country Comes". The album closes out with the magnificent "Close as a Whisper (The Gift)" a song about a song, and not just any song…..the lyrics tell the story of a song with no design to be anymore than just a little four verse and chorus folk tune, that found it's way into the heart of a nation.

On "The New Bush" you will hear performances from some of the greatest musicians on the planet, you'll experience Lee Kernaghan, the singer and songwriter, as you never have before. There are also thirteen new songs that may touch your heart, stroke your senses and travel with you for a while.

Is "The New Bush" Lee Kernaghan's finest album to date? Let's put the all the hype aside…Throw it in the CD stacker, take it for a drive...give it a spin and you be the judge.

THE NEW BUSH WAS RELEASED NATIONALLY 29 APRIL AND DEBUT No 1 AUSTRALIAN COUNTRY CHART No 6 NATIONALLY