Press Kit
Copperline is a Sydney/Blue Mountains-based Americana band of fellow travellers and troubadours Brad Christmas (vocals, guitar, piano), Richie Gosling (bass, guitar, vocals), Paul Handel (guitar, vocals) and Gareth Richards (Drums). Rusty Fords and Weatherboards, produced by Shane Nicholson in 2018, may have been the group’s debut album, but Copperline have more decades under their collective belts than they care to count plying their musical trade in low-lit bars, far-flung pubs, corrugated sheds, and even on the back of an occasional flat-bed truck. During this long apprenticeship they have honed their unique brand of storytelling and song-smithery, and are ready to share it with the world.
It’s the highways and byways travelled on this meandering musical journey, and the characters met along the way, that provided the beating narrative heart of Rusty Fords and Weatherboards.
The album’s ten tracks followed an eccentric cast of struggling artists, single fathers, fading stars – even a professional magician – all coping with longing and loss and looking for hope and redemption. The stories are at times humorous and heartfelt, but never stray from being unflinchingly human. With a reverence for the craft of song writing, Copperline doff their caps to Neil Young, Tom Waits, Lucinda Williams and Steve Earle, while charting a narrative and sonic course all of their own. There’s an unapologetic commitment to twang here, and one foot rooted in the blues and Southern Rock. But there’s also a desire to explore the boundaries of song and the wild frontiers where genres and traditions intertwine.
The band set off around the country, quickly winning a loyal following with dynamic festival performances at Tamworth, the Blue Mountains Folk Festival and Under the Stars to name a few.
When COVID-19 lockdowns put tour plans on hold for much of 2020 and 2021, the band started work on their second record, Borrowed Broken and Blue. Working again with Shane Nicholson, the twelve new tracks build on Copperline’s reputation for honest and heartfelt storytelling, while pushing the band’s sound in new and exciting directions. The response to the record has been enthusiastic, with lead single Lucinda hitting the country music charts on the day of its release and getting high rotation play on ABC Country. It also took out an Australian Songwriters Association award for best ballad.
On the back of their debut performance on Toyota Park stage at the 2023 Tamworth Country Music Festival, Copperline have been busy touring and putting together songs and stories for their upcoming third record.
“Featuring bluesy riffs and a deft touch on the piano, the ten tracks making up the album create a musical journey that parallels the one taken by the boys over the past decade, full of ups and downs and highways and byways.”
Tinsel and Tapshoes
