The name Adam Harvey is super familiar to Aussie country music-lovers. With a string of gold and platinum discs under his belt, Adam is, hands down, one of the Australian country music scenes’ biggest names. Even as a boy, he’s been a hit with country music fans, and by the time he was 10, he’d already had his first gig as a musician. Since then, he has gone on numerous music tours, earned five nominations for ARIA Music Awards, received eight golden guitars at the Country Music Awards of Australia, and sold over half a million records to date.

A dose of Adam Harvey in the “new normal”

Right before the pandemic took a turn for the worse, Adam started self-producing his 15th album to date. Adam, like the rest of us, was then forced indoors where he completed, Songs from Highway One, a record about freedom, adventure travel, and nostalgia. He also noted the irony of it, saying,

“I recorded an album about traveling all over Australia, and then – for a time – that’s the one thing we weren’t allowed to do!”

He joined the rest of the world in dealing with the drastic change. He later shared that the past 20 years had been a flurry of music tours and live performances all over Australia. As the pandemic started, he enjoyed the unexpected “holidays.” As it stretched on, things turned more “strange,” though he admitted that it gave him an easy time indulging in a lot of other things he loves—like hanging out with his family and fishing.

After almost a year of laidback indulgence, Adam shared that he is now more than ready to get back on the road. This 2021, he invites everyone to explore beautiful Australia as he goes on tours and live performances following his latest album, Songs from Highway One. 

Adam Harvey’s Songs from Highway One

Adam welcomed the year 2021 with excitement, looking forward to hitting the road and sharing his music. In March, his first single from Songs from Highway One was finally released.

Reminiscing over all the firsts he experienced while producing Songs from Highway One, Adam Harvey shared how he embarked on a brand new adventure of his own. From writing the songs to shooting the music videos, Adam admitted tapping into real people’s lives for inspiration as he often does.

If there’s anything that gets the country music fans buzzing, he thinks it would be the real-life stories and experiences imbued in the music.

For the album Songs from Highway One, Adam shared that the inspiration came after watching a TV show announcing the steep rise in Australia’s caravan sales. The news itself is nothing noteworthy for most country music fans, but for the Aussie singer-songwriter who spent most of his life touring the country, it was a fantastic idea.

“I thought if I write a song about it, it might connect with people on the road; it might also encourage people to take the leap, buy the caravan and explore this amazing country as you travel along Highway Number One.”

Even on the title track, Highway Number One, Adam tapped into his perception of the lockdown, which he described as “strange” considering how different it had been from his former life of nomadic freedom filled with endless music tours and shows on the road.

The song says, and we quote,

It starts off with a strange and easy feeling.
You’re doing things outside your routine.
Instead of reading Better Homes and Gardens, 
you’re getting lost in travel magazines.
But then one day you wake up coming on the road again. 
That’s when you know it’s time to go.

He also said the experience was “pretty daunting at first,” though he also somehow enjoyed the process.

All for Rum 

Adam Harvey is well-known to be drawn to the idea that life is the very foundation of solidarity towards country music. This commitment to the life experiences that people love led him to venture right around Australia—across, up and down, and every which way you could go.

Such dedication led him to step into the shoes of locals and travelers whose love for the open roads are as intense as his own. 

For the single All for Rum, which was released alongside Adam Harvey’s new album, Adam ventured to the iconic Bundaberg Rum Distillery up north. His song vividly described deep love for the “sweetest nectar in the world” and the good times associated with rum. He also admitted that the real inspiration came from a car sticker that reads, “All for one, one for all.”

In a big old shed in Bundaberg
They make the sweetest nectar in the world
Take a stroll along Hill Street
You’ll find the Bundy Rum Distillery
The workers cheer at end of day
Raise their glass, and then they say

[Chorus]
All for rum and rum for all
A Bundy good time’s what we’re looking for
When we’re all together, there’s one

Getting off the beaten track and into the water

Along with his popularity as a country music legend in Australia, Adam Harvey is also a familiar icon among sport fishing enthusiasts. He regularly enjoys fishing with his kids at Tuggerah Lakes near his family home.

Once, he even wrote a song that every fisho now recognizes as the theme song to the fishing show “Hooked.” He said that Dave Butfield, popular TV and radio host who can ‘catch a fish,’ “loved the song and eventually used it for the show.”

As a keen angler, he’s had his share of memorable fishing trips over the years. Among them was fishing with Jimmy Barnes a day after the Kimberleys music festival up at Kununurra. Remembering how he hopped on to a fishing charter with Jimmy and caught a few barra while sipping beer, Adam shared that it was, hands down, one of the best days of his life on the water.

Likewise, he’s also had his share of not-so-fun memories. One of the most well-known was his time at the Daly River in the Territory. They got into an accident and crashed into a croc-infested river bank. Adam was also thrown off the boat, leaving him with some broken ribs and an unforgettable experience.. 

We recently had the pleasure to spend a day out on the water with Adam. Check out the full interview where Adam talks about his new Album, 2021 tour and his passion for sport fishing.

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Keen to see Adam play live?
Check out his 2021 tour schedule here