It’s 1997 and Adam Brand is living in the suburbs of Perth running a small business by day and singing in a country covers band a few nights a week.
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He had been turned on to country music when he stumbled across Boy Howdy, an American country band featuring Jeffrey Steele.
Wanting to pursue music, Brand recorded a demo with guitar player Martin Jenner.
He then drove solo across the Nullarbor in his XF Falcon ute to the Tamworth Country Music Festival where he busked on Peel Street, snuck into a Troy Cassar-Daley concert and handed out his demo to unsuspecting passers by.
From Tamworth he made his way to Sydney to track down Melinda Schneider, a childhood friend who introduced him to Graham Thompson, then creative manager at Rondor Music, the publishing arm of A&M Records.
“That was a significant fork in the road,” Brand said.
“Who knows what would have happened if I’d gone straight home to Perth.
"Graham listened to my demos, told me I could be the next James Blundell and offered me a publishing deal with Rondor.”
Brand signed to Rondor and soon settled in Sydney.
Songs were written, demos recorded and an offer of a recording contract eventuated from Warren Fahey at Festival Records.
Brand’s self titled debut album was released by Festival Records in 1998.
Now Brand is on the road celebrating 20 years of making music.
Milestones… 20 Years will roll into Soldiers Point Bowling Club in time for the Bluewater Country Music Festival in June.
The show will feature all the hits that has made Brand a household name including Dirt Track Cowboys, Grandpa’s Piano, Good Friends, The Anzac, New England Highway, Get Loud and Hell of a Ride plus new track, Milestones.
Milestones tells the story of a young man who set off in search of his dreams. It reveals the journey that shaped Brand's life and led him to still be standing in front of his fans after a career spanning two decades.
The show will also feature the foot stomping anthem Party Down Under. Milestone and Party Down Under were written with Drew McAlister and Mike Carr and produced by Thompson.
It also includes an outtake from the Built For Speed album, a previously unreleased version of the Randy Travis classic Forever and Ever Amen as well as Hold My Hand and Hard Times from Brand’s first demo session with Jenner.
See Brand at Soldiers Point Bowling Club on Sunday, June 9.
Tickets, on sale now through the club, cost $39.