Boy from bush hits big screen
DESPITE selling over 2.5 million records, country music superstar Lee Kernaghan never expected to see himself on the silver screen.
That all changed recently with the announcement the singer’s debut concert film, Lee Kernaghan: Boy From The Bush, would receive a cinematic release.
“Last Sunday night I went to see Top Gun and the Boy From The Bush trailer came on. I had no idea it was being released into cinemas,” he said.
Described as “part-concert film and partroad movie,” it combines a specially filmed live concert with a documentary-style look at the country towns that inspired Kernaghan in a career spanning more than three decades.
Born in Corryong in Victoria, Kernaghan moved to the Gold Coast in his late teens, where he launched his career after finishing his studies at Tweed River High.
“The Gold Coast is the place that I began to find my way as a professional singer,” he said.
“When I left school music was really the only thing I could do, so I started knocking on doors around the Gold Coast.”
Kernaghan’s first professional gig was at Greenmount Resort in Coolangatta, where he quickly caught the attention of other musicians, including the late Glen Campbell.
“He was there one night and got up midway through my performance to do a duo of his song By The Time I Get To Phoenix with me – that was a real early career highlight,” he said.
The film will feature the isolated outposts frequented by Kernaghan when he began touring.
“After school my formative years were spent touring, playing all the little Outback spots. I developed a real love and affinity for country people. This film features the music of our country, people and way of life.”
Kernaghan said the community spirit of rural Australia continued to have a profound effect on him.
“I once played a fundraiser gig in Yaraka in western Queensland, which has a population of around 30 usually,” he said.
“We were hoping to get a few hundred people there, but by 6pm there were only 50 people … and that included Ray Martin and his crew from A Current Affair.
“I thought it would be a huge disaster, but as the broadcast ended with Ray we saw dust clouds in every direction of hundreds of people coming – it was because of the sheer distance that it took people to get there.
“These are the things that stay with you and become a part of you over the years.”
Lee Kernaghan: Boy From The Bush will screen in cinemas from July 28.