''Hillbilly Road'' is the seventeenth
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
by Australian
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
artist
John Williamson. It was released in August 2008 and peaked at number 6 on the
ARIA Charts
The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...
. The album was certified gold in July 2009.
The album was inspired by Williamson's retreat in the Queensland hinterland and supported with a national tour across late 2008 and into 2009.
At the
Country Music Awards of Australia
The Country Music Awards of Australia also known as the Golden Guitar Awards (originally named Australasian Country Music Awards) is an annual awards night held in January during the Tamworth Country Music Festival, in Tamworth, New South Wales ...
in January 2009, Williamson was nominated for six awards; APRA Song of the Year, Album of the Year, Male Artist of the Year, Heritage Song of the Year, Bush Ballad of the Year and Vocal Collaboration of the Year. Williamson won one award "Bush Ballad of the Year" for ""Australia Is Another Word for Free" with
Warren H Williams
Warren Hedley Williams (born 27 December 1963) is an Aboriginal Australian singer, musician and songwriter from Hermannsburg in Central Australia. As of 2013 he worked as a broadcaster on CAAMA Radio in Alice Springs.
Early life
Williams was ...
and
Amos Morris
Amos Morris (born 1987/1988) is an Indigenous Australian country music bush balladeer from Kempsey, New South Wales. He won a Golden Guitar Award in 2008 for Bush Ballad of the Year, becoming the youngest ever winner of the category. He has perform ...
Singles
Five singles were released off the album across 2008 and 2009; "Drink a Little Love", "Cydi", "Hillbilly Road", "Australia Is Another Word for Free" and "Better Than a Picture".
Reception
Adam Greenberg from
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
said "Williamson's sound is by and large in a strong
John Denver
Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, activist, and humanitarian whose greatest commercial success was as a solo singe ...
vein, with an optimistic, warm sound, and a fairly natural guitar tone. A few Aboriginal sounds creep into the mix from time to time, but seem to stand in comfortably and naturally, rather than as an afterthought or a simple nod to the outback that Williamson calls home. The music is simple and warm, built with a touch of timelessness that's almost intentional, but not quite to the degree that it can be called out. It's a fine album, and has just enough vocal goodness to pull in a few listeners from outside of the country realm. "
Track listing
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Release history
References
{{Authority control
2008 albums
John Williamson (singer) albums
EMI Records albums