Recent Performances include:
US Tour Sept 2008 (LA, Austin & Nashville)
Port Fairy Festival - Victoria, AUSTRALIA (2008)
National Folk Fest - Canberra, , AUSTRALIA (2008)
Tamworth Country Music Festival - NSW, AUSTRALIA (2008)
Cygnet Festival - Tasmania, AUSTRALIA (2008)
Mossvale Festival - Victoria, AUSTRALIA (2007)
Meeniyan Hall - Victoria, AUSTRALIA (2007)
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BILL JACKSON'S 'STEEL AND BONE' HAS JUST BEEN ANNOUNCED AS RADIO PRESENTERS ALBUM OF THE YEAR 2008 AT THE FOLK ALLIANCE AUSTRALIA CONFERENCE IN SYDNEY.Bill Jackson is “Australia’s Lyle Lovett,†said legendary music promoter & entrepreneur Andrew Pattison at the 2008 National Folk Festival in Canberra, Australia. He goes on to describe Jackson as, “a storyteller-social commentator who writes about common and shared experiences from the anthemic ‘Bring ‘Em on Home’ to the gritty ‘You Evil Bitch Morphine’ to the autobiographical ‘Long Way from Water’,†on his forthcoming Soundvault Records album Steel + Bone to be released in June 2008.
Based in Melbourne, Australia, alt.Country/Roots singer-songwriter Bill Jackson has been crafting his vivid stories from the fringes of Melbourne’s music scene and beyond in various recording & touring configurations for more than twenty years.
Having lived in the States for a short while in the early stages of his career, Jackson gained a lot of professional experience and hard knocks in Nashville, TN and Austin, TX before moving on to experience a life in Andalucia and London. Eventually, he returned to his origins in Australia.
An original member of the Melbourne collective Urban Nomads from 1992 through 2002 on the Double Diamond label, Jackson co-wrote and recorded four albums with the group, which also featured collaborative work with Vikki Simpson (The Waifs), Sharin Anderson (Lola’s Delight) and George Butrumlis (Zydeco Jump).
Jackson enjoyed commercial success with composer Mark McSherry and artist David Bridie in the late 90s while producing/writing an historical double album - Every Heart Beats True - of interviews and original songs for The Melbourne Football Club, which sold in excess of 5,000 copies in Australia through EMI Records. In 2003, Jackson tapped McSherry to record The Hurting Sessions.
Jackson continued to develop his new sound with producer Marcel Yammouni (Vanessa Amorosi Band) and released the acclaimed Diggin’ the Roots album in late 2006 with independent Melbourne label/distributor Soundvault Records. The album is full of rich self-revealing stories with riffs that stick, and was awarded brilliant reviews and extensive radio airplay both in Australia and overseas. That success brought Jackson invitations to play the legendary Meeniyan Hall with The Backsliders, and the seminal Mossvale Festival with Eric Bibb.
In 2007, Jackson grew his live presentation to include The Acoustic Orchestra – his trio, featuring Peter Fidler on Dobro/Lap Steel/Mandolin/Guitar and Ruth Hazleton on Clawhammer Banjo/Guitar/Vocals. He ventured back in to the studio with producer-guru Marcel Yammouni to record his third solo album, Steel + Bone. The new recording prominently features Fidler & Hazleton, and reveals Jackson’s return to his Country-fringe roots with spare arrangements, darkly-drawn images and lyrics that cut through the many thematic layers of love, war and passion for life.
Blitzing the 2008 Australia festival season earlier this year with performances at the prestigious Port Fairy Folk Festival (2008), Tamworth Country Music Festival (2008) and National Folk Festival in Canberra (2008), Jackson continues to tour regionally and is looking forward to the official release of his new Steel + Bone CD in Australia this summer.
Jackson was invited to showcase at the Roots Music Association Radio and Music Conference (originally scheduled for June 2008 in San Antonio, TX, currently TBA), which sparked plans for a mini U.S. tour with performances, TV appearances, and co-writing sessions scheduled in Nashville, Dallas, Austin and Los Angeles. Jackson will be introducing his new touring trio and new album to U.S. audiences in the Fall of 2008. Perhaps he’ll meet Lyle Lovett, as well.
The NEW album - STEEL + BONE - was launched in Melbourne in June 2008!