About 25 years ago, sitting in the audience with her sister Fiona, it dawned on Tania Kernaghan her brother was the hottest new performer in Australian country music.
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His song Boys From The Bush was topping the country charts and his accompanying album The Outback Club was doing the same.
“When Lee walked out in stage all these girls were screaming and going off their nut!,” Tania recalls fondly.
“Fiona and I looked at each other and we thought what are they going on about, it’s just our brother. I soon realised he is a mega star and people just love him but the best part about Lee is … he’s just really down to earth, very kindhearted and very generous with his time with people.”
Lee plays his Boys From The Bush 25th Anniversary Tour concert at the Albury Entertainment Centre on April 21 and Tania will join him at the sell-out show.
“Over the past 10 years Lee and I have pretty much been touring separately,” she says.
“He’d be in one end of the country and I’d be in the other but this is such a wonderful opportunity to come back together now.
“Back when his Outback Club came out and my first album came out, December Moon, we did a bit of touring together, so it’s been a long time since we’ve hit the road and actually performed together.”
Performing together on the Border is not new for country music’s first family, now based in Queensland.
The siblings began their music careers while at primary school in Albury and then on the touring circuit with father Ray.
“Dad was performing and touring and singing in the 70s and 80s and we grew up with music,” Tania says.
“We were just little kids when we were performing in our little band Angel and the Blue Devils and we used to perform for the pensioners and Christmas parties and Mother’s Day parties around CWA halls and little venues like that.
“So, we’ve been singing together for a long time and when we go on stage on a tour like this, for us personally, it’s a wonderful opportunity to get other there and perform together.”
The Albury show also features The Wolfe Brothers and Christie Lamb but Tania Kernaghan knows who the fans will be waiting for.
“I’ll be opening the show with a few of the songs I’ve recorded over the years then I’ll come back and be part of Lee’s performance later.
“It’s gonna be great. He absolutely gets out there and rocks it. The crowd just loves Lee.”
