There were a few things swirling about in the universe that were the catalyst for the band in 2023. The original line-up evolved from my touring band Steve Tyson & The Train Rex. I began writing new songs that weren't my stories, the basis of songs on my solo albums. These were other peoples' stories. My longtime guitarist Ian ‘Sal' Shawsmith and bass player/vocalist Jodi Murtha made the transition with me.

At the same time, I had been listening to the Robert Plant / Alison Krauss collaboration, and just loved that close interplay with their voices. Then Sal introduced me to Birds of Chicago, the duo featuring Allison Russell and her husband JT Nero. Again, that beautiful duet thing, but then they would each do songs solo. That prompted me to go back and rediscover those classic Tammy Wynette / George Jones duets. 

I’m also a huge fan of Willy Vlautin, both as a songwriter in his band Richmond Fontaine, and as an author. His current band The Delines I'm really into. It combines Willy’s wonderful little pieces of fiction, little snapshots of American life, with a female voice, Amy Boone, taking the lead.

I had also been rediscovering some stuff I played and listened to when I first started playing in bands, the soul stuff put out by Sam & Dave, Otis Redding, and Joe Tex. I really loved ‘Show Me’, Joe Tex’s big hit. But then I discovered all this other stuff Joe wrote and produced, and it was country music. He wrote and produced a whole album for the Australian singer Diana Trask way back. That crossover thing, that country-soul thing really interested me. You get that from Ray Charles of course. One of the greatest R&B performers singing country songs. And going through my early guitar player phase, listening to Clapton and Hendrix, I rediscovered the guys that influenced them, like Albert King and Freddie King.

Plus Sal and I are both drawn to that alt.country thing with a bit of a tougher edge. Bands like Blackie and The Rodeo Kings.

So all this stuff was floating around in my head, all this music was on rotation on my car's CD player, when the first couple of songs came to me. And I was hearing them either as duets, or with Jodi taking the lead. I’ve always been a story-teller through my songs, but they have mainly been my stories. Things that have happened to me on my travels, or family stories. But these new songs were emerging as other peoples’ stories. Just little bits of fiction, little vignettes of other peoples’ lives.

There are a couple of true stories, or observations. Like the song ‘Water’ is just a reaction to what I could see looking in my own backyard. Not literally, but Australia’s back yard. ‘Jessie’ is the story of one of Australia’s few female bushrangers Jessie Hickman. But most of the songs are about ordinary characters. Decidedly Australian characters, Australian stories, Australian places, or Australians in other worldly locations.

As far as finding the right people to be in the band, I knew we just had to have pedal steel incorporated into them, so we were very happy to bring Jeff Spencer on board. The songs were crying out for that sort of approach and Jeff just ‘got it’ right away.

When I first picked up a guitar, I started a band at school at the age of 12 with a bloke named Stu Hoffman, who could borrow his big brother's drum kit. We eventually went our separate ways but remained lifelong friends, and I am so happy that we have come full circle, and he is now the drummer in the band. 

Then in early 2026, Jodi made the tough decision to leave us for personal reasons. We love her dearly and of course she will be greatly missed. As she says to anyone who will listen, the band is made up of ‘the nicest people I have ever played with.’ We are so proud of the work she did with us, making ‘Demons & Dreamers’ the best album we could have produced. But out of adversity comes opportunity, and as we start the process of working on new songs for our next album, we are excited to welcome two new members. Paul Kucharski, originally from the USA, has brought a new dimension to the band playing bass guitar. The fact that he is a multi-brass instrumentalist is just icing on the cake for the upcoming recording of the next album.

The last thing the band wanted was someone to replicate Jodi’s vocal approach, especially as we begin working on the new material. We needed someone to put their own stamp on the songs we are writing. Jeanie McClymont brings something completely fresh to the role, with a raw, powerful edge to the new voice upfront. With a background steeped in the music of Johnny Cash and Slim Dusty, she was born to sing these songs. That she also plays guitar is a bonus.

The other thing I was very clear about is, this was never just a Steve Tyson band. This is a whole new project, with everyone bringing ideas to the table. It needed a new name to reflect that. Keeping North was born…..