Jackson McLaren's new EP features the best of his tireless songwriting efforts over the past 18 months.
JACKSON McLaren has worked tirelessly to get where he is today but spreading the word about his newly released EP should be a little easier now.
The former Mailors Flat lad's five-track Walk Along The Wire has enjoyed a boost from the promotional might of Sony, having signed the singer-songwriter about a month ago.
"That's going to be a big help to try and get my music to the next level," McLaren told Offbeat.
"Compared to the last release we've got a lot wider distribution.
"It's in most CD shops around Australia and is being featured more rather than just put amongst all the CDs."
McLaren is in the process of booking venues to launch the EP at Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, but said hometown fans could also expect a launch at The Loft down the track.
Walk Along The Wire was put together after a long process of picking and choosing between a stack of songs penned in recent years, he said.
"I've been writing flat out for about four years and there were about 70 songs to choose from in the last year-and-half of writing,'' he said.
"I had a look at what were the strongest and most interesting, then boiled it down to something that worked together and was cohesive.
"I think in terms of style arrangement and even theme the songs mesh and link in together pretty well.
"There's kind of a folk vibe going but I've been lucky enough to get a really good band on board too.
"Their arrangements have really added to the songs, which has brought a lot to the music.
"I'd say the EP is talking about place.
"The songs have a lot of coming and going, leaving, going home and those kind of ideas, and there's a lots of places in the songs, rural and country aspects and also the city where it's really busy."
The stories of a busy muso's life could surprise a few people coming from a 21-year-old, but McLaren has been a touring musician since his mid-teens.
"I'm kind of lucky to start all this a bit earlier," he said.
"Having mentors like Josh Pyke to look after me while on tour and give good advice put me in good stead now and in the future.
"The best advice I got was to make sure I keep my head on my shoulders and don't be an idiot or a dickhead and be yourself, try to write good music for the right reason.
"I'm still doing that since I was really young I have loved listening to music and creating music and over the last couple years I might've learnt how to craft songs a little bit better.
"My ultimate goal is to have a song that gets into the Australian consciousness and people can listen to it on a radio or down at the beach and can identify with it and feel something with it even if they don't know the name of it."
The new EP is on shelves now at Capricorn Records and available for download from the iTunes Music Store.
