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Artist of the Week: McAlister Kemp

21 January 2022 | 10:15 am | Mallory Arbour

CountryTown in partnership with iHeartCountry Australia is proud to announce powerhouse duo, McAlister Kemp as our Artist Of The Week.

CountryTown in partnership with iHeartCountry Australia is proud to announce McAlister Kemp as our Artist Of The Week, following the release of their new single, After The Breakdown.

After a seven-year hiatus, following their separation in 2015 to work on solo projects, After the Breakdown is the prelude to their fourth studio album, set for release in 2022. True to the real-life themes that McAlister Kemp are renowned for, the first single is about moving on and finding hope after a tragedy or hard times. 

McAlister Kemp says, “It feels like a really momentous occasion, to be recording and releasing music together again.  It’s been a while! We are stoked to share After The Breakdown, and we are looking forward to 2022 being the year we can share a whole lot more music with people – including some live dates too!”

McAlister Kemp remains one of the most successful Australian country acts of the last decade. From the immediate, breakout success in 2010 (which saw them take home the award for ‘New Talent of the Year’ at the 2011 Golden Guitars) through to 2015, the duo earned their stripes as one of the highest selling and most loved touring acts in Australian country music.

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Their three highly acclaimed albums – All Kinds of Tough (2010), ARIA Award-nominated Country Proud (2012) and Harder to Tame (2014) – produced number one video and airplay hits including Country Proud, Hell Yeah, It Don’t Buy You Love, Harder to Tame, Fight Me and All Kinds of Tough. They have toured extensively, playing to big crowds on large festival stages, and opening for the likes of Adam Brand and international acts Alan Jackson and Big & Rich.

The duo reunited in 2020 to celebrate the ten-year anniversary of McAlister Kemp’s debut album, All Kinds Of Tough. Originally announced as a one-off special concert for the Tamworth Country Music Festival, they broke a new record at the Longyard Hotel when their show sold-out within four days, leading to a second show announced for the following day.

Both members have also had lucrative solo careers. Drew McAlister released two albums, 2015’s Black Sky and 2017’s Coming Your Way, and was one-fifth of Adam Brand and The Outlaws, the super group who took home the 2017 ARIA award for ‘Highest Selling Australian Artist’. His latest solo track, When This Is All Over is an upbeat song about the positives coming away from an event or tragedy, and was the first release since his 2019 singles, The Stranger and Live Young.

Troy Kemp released his debut solo album Against The Grain in 2015, which features the #1 singles How We Roll Around Here and Small Town Girl. He picked up a Rob Potts ‘New Talent Of The Year’ Award at the 2018 CMC Awards for his duo project Tailgate Drive with Damien Baguley from The Viper Creek Band and his duet of Hung Up On You with Jayne Denham was nominated for ‘Vocal Collaboration Of The Year’ at the 2019 Golden Guitar Awards.

Kemp, who now calls Nashville home, released a handful of solo singles too, including Needles On The Vinyl, Like A Hit To Me, Takin’ Me Back and Before Summer Starts To Fall with Katrina Burgoyne. He also features on the patriotic 2022 Golden Guitar-nominated track, I Still Call Australia Home with Kristy Cox, O’Shea, Travis List, Camille and Stuie, Jedd Hughes, Burgoyne and Sam Hawksley.


Keep up to date with McAlister Kemp on their Facebook page here.

For more Artist Of The Week features, including McAlister Kemp, check out here.

Image: Supplied