Says Brendan McMahon, "Sometimes the path of love has a few speed humps in it…! Broken Romance is an upbeat, fun and light hearted song with a 12 bar blues riff. The amazing Gretta Ziller helped out on this one, it was a lot of fun working with her in the studio…!"
Multi award-winning singer-songwriter, Brendan McMahon, grew up in the small town of Kapunda near South Australia’s Barossa Valley. He discovered his love of music at the age of 15 after being “awed and floored” seeing some old footage of Jimi Hendrix played on television; amazed by the sounds that Jimi could pull from a guitar and captivated by the iconic performer’s showmanship. Borrowing money from his mother (and paying it back at $2 a week) he promptly bought himself a $60 guitar and amp rig from a mate.
Spending his late teens and early twenties as a lead singer/lead guitarist in rock cover bands playing across Adelaide and country Victoria, McMahon honed his skills the hard way – in front of demanding Australian pub and club crowds. In 1998, and now bitten by both the song writing and performance bug, McMahon released a 7-track EP called ‘Picture This’ with his band The Cunning Stunts
In 2015 and 2016, Brendan released the solo albums ‘Falling To Earth’ and ‘Marker 7-58’ under the moniker of Satellite Gods, and in doing so was fortunate enough to collaborate and work with some renowned Australian musicians including Peter Maslen (Boom Crash Opera), Jason Vorherr (Darryl Braithwaite), Bob Spencer (The Angels), Simon Hosford (Vanessa Amorosi) and Wilbur Wilde (Ol’ 55).
Brendan explains “I met these fabulous musicians through the studio I record, Soggy Dog Recording Studio in Upwey, Victoria. Not only did they contribute their instrumental talents to these albums, they also opened up my eyes to new concepts and helped me understand the importance of “leaving space’ in the music.”
After supporting artists such as Boom Crash Opera, Russell Morris, Wendy Stapleton and The Chantoozies in Australia, Brendan releas ‘On This Fine Occasion’, his third album in 2017, which received great reviews both locally and internationally.
In 2019, McMahon, who now calls Melbourne home, released ‘In The Moment’ – his 4th solo album. Maturity, reflection and drawing on his personal experiences, his inspired yet refined lyrics again take listeners on a captivating journey.
Recorded with Steve Vertigan at Soggy Dog Recording Studios, and again drawing upon Australian music royalty in its creation – namely Dave Leslie (Baby Animals), Danny Spencer (Jimmy Barnes Band), Brett Kingman (James Reyne Band), and the previously mentioned Peter Maslen and Jason Vorherr, plus a string trio from the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (Sarah Curro, Gabi Halloran and Paul Zabrowarny), this powerful album embraces the essence of story-telling and leaves you thinking about the songs long after the last track finishes.
Having visited over 60 unique and varied countries (McMahon and his wife share an extensive and adventurous bucket list), Brendan’s travel experiences, specifically his observations of history, cultures, people, architecture and nature are at the root of his creativity and songwriting. These themes again feature prominently throughout ‘In The Moment’.
November 2020 saw the release of ‘No Rush Today’, an album that debuted at No. 2 on the iTunes country music chart on release. McMahon feels his 5th solo offering cemented him in the Country Rock space. The album delivered 3 top 10 AMRAP singles, Jack, Sugar Cane Man and Wired to the moon along with strong charting on many other Australian charts including a No.4 position in France with Sugar Cane Man.
Once again, the collaboration of Soggy Dog Studios (Steve Vertigan) and McMahon, along with the incredible session musicians from previous albums, has delivered an album of stories about personal journey, travel experiences and people.
“I strongly believe that 'As The Road Unfolds' is my most cohesive and strongest offering yet”, McMahon says. “We’ve spent a lot more time listening to and fine tuning the tracks. I’ve also recorded a lot more of this album in my own studio and the studio of Aussie guitar virtuoso, Simon Hosford which definitely added more colour to the end product”.
“I’ve found it really exciting in 2021 & 2022 to be getting strong airplay all over the world… my songs are now being played in Ireland, England, Scotland, Canada, USA, Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, Italy and Luxemburg… it’s one of the positives of global reach to new audiences through the internet” states McMahon.
'As The Road Unfolds' won the Australian Country Music Peoples Choice Award for best album at the 2023 Tamworth music festival.
June 2024 sees the release of McMahon’s 7th studio album, ‘Somewhere West Of Nowhere’, which features 12 new tracks including no less that 6 No.1 singles from the AMRAP metro chart including ‘I Hear Your Voice’ which won an award at the Tamworth Australian Peoples Choice Awards in January 2024 for best video.
‘Somewhere West Of Nowhere’ has recently been nominated in the International Singer/Songwriters Awards in Atlanta, Georgia even prior to its full release based on the tracks that have been released as singles, “It’s extremely exciting to be recognised internationally for my songwriting” says McMahon… “it may mean a trip to Atlanta in October this year (2024) for the awards ceremony if I’m shortlisted.”
What’s next for Brendan…? “I went to Nashville in May (2024) to play a few shows and then back in the studio to work on new material for my 8th album.”
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