Growing up in Fawkner in northern Melbourne in the 1970s you were more likely to hear a bouzouki than a harmonica, disco music than Neil Young or Jackson Browne.  Inspired by their songs, Russell bought a Hohner Marine Band harp and a cheap acoustic guitar and started on his musical journey,.

 

That musical journey has seen many twists adn turns. At heart though Russell has always been a songwriter, a story teller, an observer of people of places, things and objects.

 

As a songwriter Russell wears his heart on his sleeve and his songs reflect this. The vulnerabilities that inhabit that characters in his songs, has a direct linage back to the singer songwriters he grew up listening to as a teenager in the later 70s.

 

Fast forward a few decades (or more…) and Russell discovered that an acoustic guitar and a Hohner were all he needed to reignite his passion for songwriting and performing. Like a miner bird he’s taken inspiration from all of his songwriting heroes to mould his own music.