IF you’re a Jimmy Barnes fan, strap in, because 2019 is going to be a wild ride.
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The Australian pub-rock icon is only months away from releasing My Criminal Record, his first solo album of original material since 2010 and Barnes has began writing with Don Walker for Cold Chisel’s follow-up to 2015’s The Perfect Crime.
The past two years have seen a renewed interest in Barnes’ life and career due to his acclaimed and harrowing biographies Working Class Boy and Working Class Man, which chronicled his rise from a childhood spent in abusive households in Glasgow and Adelaide to becoming one of Australia’s greatest rock’n’roll singers.
Barnes told the Newcastle Herald writing and speaking about his life had also energised his songwriting some 40 years into his career.
“It’s certainly opened up a whole new avenue for songwriting in terms of different emotions, different ways of looking back at my life,” Barnes said.
“Writing those books - as much as they connected with other people - for me, there was a lot of stuff that was blocking me that I tried to not deal with as I grew up.
“Dealing with them in the book has loosened me up and freed me up so I can write about other things and move on.”
Several of the new tracks, My Criminal Record and the Troy Cassar-Daley co-written Shutting Down My Town are already in Barnes’ acoustic set list and are expected to be performed during the upcoming Red Hot Summer Tour with Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, The Living End, Diesel, Chocolate Starfish and Richard Clapton.
“They’re a bit darker, a bit more personal,” he said. “Looking back at my life it gave me an edge and a bit of anger. It’s a pretty good rock’n’roll record, I think.”
News that another Cold Chisel album could be released by the end of 2019 is expected to create even more excitement.
“I actually wrote a bunch for the new album with [Cold Chisel keyboardist] Don [Walker], so that started the ball rolling and now we’re getting into writing for Cold Chisel,” Barnes said.
“We hope to record mid next year and have it out by the end of the year.”
With potentially two albums to promote and tour in 2019 Barnes is preparing for another hectic year. Despite the 62-year-old being at an age where many of his contemporaries are slowing down, Barnes wants to keep his foot to the pedal.
“It’s going to be a busy year,” he said. “I enjoy the new challenges and like to push myself.
“After a couple of years of touring and concentrating on the books and the movie, it’s good to shift my focus back to rock’n’roll and I want to get out and play to some rock’n’roll audiences.”
Jimmy Barnes headlines the Red Hot Summer Tour at Pokolbin’s Roche Estate on February 2.
Josh Leeson
Josh Leeson is an entertainment and features journalist, specialising in music, at the Newcastle Herald. He first joined the masthead in 2008 after stints at the Namoi Valley Independent and Port Stephens Examiner and has previously covered sport including the Asian Cup, A-League, Surfest, cricket and rugby league.
Josh Leeson is an entertainment and features journalist, specialising in music, at the Newcastle Herald. He first joined the masthead in 2008 after stints at the Namoi Valley Independent and Port Stephens Examiner and has previously covered sport including the Asian Cup, A-League, Surfest, cricket and rugby league.
