Following on from their recent single of the same name, three piece blues, roots, rock, dance and funk outfit Barrel House are pleased to announce the release of their new EP Open Road. To celebrate, the band are heading down said open road with a string of East Coast Australia EP launch dates.

Hailing from Port Macquarie on the NSW mid north coast and together only just over a year, Barrel House’s dedication to establishing themselves as one of the country’s foremost live act’s is second to none. Including support slots for the likes of Ani DiFranco, Blue King Brown, Jeff Lang, Mama Kin and Ash Grunwald, the last 12 months alone has seen the band play over 100 shows - from Melbourne to Gympie and everywhere in between.

Says vocalist / guitarist / songwriter Dwaine Cameron: "We thought we'd do a crappy demo to help us get some gigs and we sent it into Triple J for a few laughs and they started playing it on Roots'n'All. So it sort of hit home that we might actually have a serious band here”. Despite the "crappy" demo, November last year saw Triple J handpick the band as the winners of their ‘Open Arms Unearthed’ competition. The Unearthed win saw the band not only open the main stage of Coffs Harbour’s Open Arms Festival (sharing billing with the likes of Grinspoon, Gyroscope, Mammal, TZU and many more) but the exposure also saw them receive strong Triple J airplay around the show and sent them to the top of the Triple J Unearthed ‘roots’ charts.

A performance at Port Macquarie’s own Festival Of The Sun rounded off a fruitful 2008 for the band and shortly after, they were confirmed to perform at the prestigious East Coast Blues n Roots festival in Byron Bay last April.

Says Dwaine: “ I was at my first Bluesfest when I was 16, and it was that festival which first inspired me to pick up a guitar and start writing songs, getting onto the 2009 line up was a dream come true. After the show I jumped off stage to get a photo with our surprise 20+ person cheer squad (their shirts each had a letter spray painted on the front which when they took formation spelt “BARREL HOUSE BLUES 09”) and we were taken over to the signing tent. I was amazed to see 2 lines of about 20 or so people so I asked the people lining up if they were there for us and they confirmed with a cheer! It was perfect, we met some great people from the crowd and then back stage as well, definitely the highlight of my career to date”.

Barrel House have also been announced as the first signing for new Australian management company ‘Cross Section’. ‘Cross Section’ was founded earlier this year by co directors Scott Mesiti (Director of Festival Of the Sun) and Ted Gardiner (manager of ‘The Brian Jonestown Massacre’).

Says Mesiti: “Ted and I had both moved to the Mid North Coast and started Cross Section just over a 6 months ago when we saw how little resource and support regional artists get. Cross Section is an all in one support system for independent bands to develop over time and build a self sustainable career. Barrel House are a stand out band on the Mid North Coast with a work ethic and attitude that will see them around for years to come. It’s our pleasure to be working with them.”

Open Road includes guest appearances Jason Heise (trumpet) and backing vocals from Lisa Hunt (Pavarotti, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton, James Brown). The EP was produced by Scott Mesiti, engineered by Phil Eades, mixed by Tony Buchan (Macromantics, Blue King Brown, Kid Confucius) at Studio 301 in Sydney and mastered at Sterling Sound’s in New York by Chris Gehringer. Cross Section management have set up the bands release through Inertia distribution allowing Barrel House to maintain its independent and creative freedom.

Barrel House have also been shortlisted in the APRA Professional Development Awards. With their debut Open Road EP in stores now and accompanying national launch dates just announced, catch them: