Marlon Williams & The Yarra Benders tour Australia in July to celebrate the launch of Williams' debut album, out now via Caroline Australia.

Touring with special guest LAURA JEAN

Williams has spent the past year selling out tours, and blowing away festival audiences at Byron Bay Bluesfest, Meredith Music Festival and Port Fairy Folk Festival.

Come see what all the fuss is about and experience Williams incredible full band show in the flesh.

Album praise

"At times impossibly fun, at others bone-achingly beautiful; Marlon Williams has delivered a gem" The Music

"Picks his marks and hits them...captivating" Rolling Stone

"...his voice soars to the heavens and plucks at the heartstrings." The Australian

"Expect to see and hear a lot more from this man with a voice of an angel" Billboard Magazine

"The whole record is remarkable..." Music Feeds

"...one of the most impressive country records this year" Tonedeaf

Background

Marlon Williams is an award winning singer-songwriter from the port town of Lyttelton in New Zealand, often described as "the impossible love child of Elvis, Roy Orbison and Townes Van Zandt".

Williams grew up singing in the Christchurch cathedral choir, before his punk rock dad turned him onto country music in his teens.

He founded The Unfaithful Ways at 17, with his high school friends and their science teacher, and quickly gained national attention, playing the Big Day Out, touring with Band of Horses and Justin Townes Earle, and picking up a Critics Choice award nomination at the 2011 New Zealand Music Awards for their debut album Free Rein.

Williams met acclaimed country singer Delaney Davidson in 2011, and the pair began performing as a duo. Over two years they released three volumes of the series, Sad But True: The Secret History Of Country Music Songwriting, garnering critical acclaim, including the New Zealand country song and country album of the year in 2013.

Relocating to Melbourne in mid-2013, Williams began performing solo around town and built a cult following playing a residency at local venue the Yarra Hotel. The buzz built nationally in 2014, with major festival and television appearances leading to sold out tours of Australia and New Zealand.

Buy Williams' debut album now from all good record stores and www.marlonwilliams.co.nz