RUSSELL MORRIS

'Cut You Loose' is the up-tempo guitar-driven second single from 'Red Dirt - Red Heart', the third and final installment of the Australian blues-roots album trilogy from local music icon Russell Morris.

The single, at media today, was inspired by the story of the Wild Colonial Boy, Jack Doolan. But rather than write from the point of the Wild Colonial Boy himself, Russell penned the song in a different guise; from the viewpoint of the man that introduced the traitor into Doolan's inner circle.

'Red Dirt - Red Heart', released in October last year through Chugg Music and produced by Russell's long-time collaborator Mitch Cairns, tells the story of the Australian interior and follows on from critically acclaimed releases 'Sharkmouth' and 'Van Diemen's Land'.

2013 release 'Sharkmouth' focused on the urban back-blocks of Melbourne and the characters that inhabited them through the Depression years. The album was a breakaway success, surpassing platinum sales, claiming the ARIA Award for Best Blues & Roots Album that year, and becoming the highest-selling Australian album of 2013.

Follow-up 'Van Diemen's Land' shifted focus to larger events throughout Australia's history, from the prison ships that established Australia as a penal settlement, to the Union strikes and the First and Second World Wars. Debuting at No.4 on the ARIA Album Chart, 'Van Diemen's Land' was nominated for Best Blues & Roots Album in 2014 and was the highest charting album of Russell's fifty-year career.

With 'Red Dirt - Red Heart', Russell Morris shines a light on the Indigenous people that have inhabited Australia for over 40,000 years. The album tells the stories of two bushrangers, another about a beautiful town, a song about a loner, a recluse, and an escape artist, and of course the spectacular Nullarbor Desert.

"... the album is an engrossing listen for a blues fan." - The Music

"... this offering might actually be the best of Russell Morris's Aussie blues series. A little more laidback than its predecessor, it finds Morris deep in the heart of the nation, telling indigenous stories such as Bennelong, Kadaitcha Man and Pemulwuy. These are songs for the head and the heart."

- STACK Magazine

"... friend and promoter Michael Chugg describes this as "a wonderful conclusion to an amazing trilogy''. He would say that, but that doesn't mean it isn't true." - The Australian (4-stars)

"Every song in this trilogy of Blues albums is a story in itself. Russell Morris has articulated Australian history in a unique collection of recordings that cuts to the very core fabric of our society... "Red Dirt - Red Heart' makes you think, makes you learn, makes you listen and if you like, it may even make you dance as well". - Noise 11