‘Cut You Loose’ is the up-tempo guitar-driven second single from Red Dirt – Red Heart, the third and final installment of the Australian blues-roots album trilogy from local music icon Russell Morris.
The single, at media today, was inspired by the story of the Wild Colonial Boy, Jack Doolan. But rather than write from the point of the Wild Colonial Boy himself, Russell penned the song in a different guise; from the viewpoint of the man that introduced the traitor into Doolan’s inner circle.
Red Dirt – Red Heart, released in October last year through Chugg Music and produced by Russell’s long-time collaborator Mitch Cairns, tells the story of the Australian interior and follows on from critically acclaimed releases Sharkmouth and Van Diemen’s Land.
2013 release Sharkmouth focused on the urban back-blocks of Melbourne and the characters that inhabited them through the Depression years. The album was a breakaway success, surpassing platinum sales, claiming the ARIA Award for Best Blues & Roots Album that year, and becoming the highest-selling Australian album of 2013.
Follow-up Van Diemen’s Land shifted focus to larger events throughout Australia’s history, from the prison ships that established Australia as a penal settlement, to the Union strikes and the First and Second World Wars. Debuting at No.4 on the ARIA Album Chart, Van Diemen’s Land was nominated for Best Blues & Roots Album in 2014 and was the highest charting album of Russell’s fifty-year career.
With Red Dirt – Red Heart, Russell Morris shines a light on the Indigenous people that have inhabited Australia for over 40,000 years. The album tells the stories of two bushrangers, another about a beautiful town, a song about a loner, a recluse, and an escape artist, and of course the spectacular Nullarbor Desert.
‘RED DIRT-RED HEART’ NATIONAL TOUR DATES
5 March – Blues at Briars, Mornington VIC
6 March – Caravan Music Club, Oakleigh VIC
12 March – Memo Music Hall, St Kilda VIC
13 March – Huon Festival TAS
19 March – The Gov, Hindmarsh SA
20 March – Crabfest, Mandurah WA
24 March – Flying Saucer Club – Melbourne VIC
26 March – Village Green Hotel, Mulgrave VIC
27 March – Flowerdale Estate, Flowerdale VIC
28 March – Byron Bay Bluesfest, Byron Bay NSW
9 April – Ravenswood Hotel Blues Festival, Perth WA
23 April – Victoria Point Sharks Club, QLD
24 April – Rockhampton Festival, Rockhampton QLD