Airbourne

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Airbourne
OriginWarrnambool, VIC
GenresHard rock
Years active2001 – present
LabelsEMI, Roadrunner
Websitehttp://www.airbournerock.com
MembersJoel O'Keefe, Ryan O'Keefe, David Roads, Justin Street
Past membersAdam Jacobsen

Band members

  • Line-up
    • Joel O'Keefe (vocals, guitar)
    • Ryan O'Keefe (drums)
    • David Roads (guitar)
    • Justin Street (bass)
  • Former members
    • Adam Jacobsen (bass) (2001 - 2005)

Band information

Airbourne is a hard rock band in the traditional Australian pub rock vein. Like Doomfoxx their sound draws so heavily from AC/DC as to be almost indistinguishable at times.

The band released an EP in 2004 before moving to Melbourne and caused an almost immediate signing frenzy. Before the end of 2005 Airbourne had signed a five album deal with Capitol Records and opened for Mötley Crüe. During 2006 the band joined the summer festivals circuit inlcuding the Big Day Out and played the Melbourne support to the Rolling Stones. Following this the group headed in to record the album Runnin' Wild but major shake-ups at Capitol meant that Airbourne was dropped from the label's roster in February 2007. EMI retained the band for Australian release however and the album was issued in July, reaching #21 on the national album chart. In September, the iTunes-only release Live at the Playroom was made available. The group signed to Roadrunner for international distribution and were nominated for ARIA Awards for Best Breakthrough Album and Best Rock Album, but failed to win.

Airbourne toured Australia with Motörhead and Rose Tattoo in October, 2007. Following this they toured through North America with acts like Korn and Kid Rock before returning to Australia for a final tour over December/January ahead of moving base to the US in 2008. Runnin' Wild was released worldwide on January 29, 2008 and since then the band has toured the world extensively. In July they were part of the Rockstar Mayhem tour with Slipknot and Machine Head through the US and in November toured Europe with bands like Motörhead and Die Toten Hosen.

In 2008 Runnin’ Wild won Metal Hammer’s Best Debut Album award and the group won Classic Rock’s Best New Band award. The album was also ranked at #5 on Classic Rock's list of best albums of the year.

In January 2009, Airbourne began working on their second album, even moving in to the Criterion Hotel in Warrnambool where they first began playing live to write. As work on the album continued, the band played the summer festivals circuit in Europe. No Guts. No Glory was announced as the album's title in October, with a release date of March 10, 2010. It immediately peaked on the ARIA Albums chart at #19 and was later nominated for an ARIA Award (missing out to Parkway Drive's Deep Blue). Airbourne performed at the Big Day Out during January 2011 and mid-year toured the UK with Iron Maiden. From late 2011 Airbourne was less active on the live front as they worked on their third album, Black Dog Barking, released in May 2013 and reaching #17 on the ARIA album chart. Black Dog Barking was nominated for the Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album at the 2013 ARIA Awards but lost out to Karnivool's Asymmetry.

Discography

Albums:

Runninwild.jpg
2007 Runnin' Wild EMI
Nogutsnoglory.JPG
2010 No Guts. No Glory EMI
2013 Black Dog Barking EMI

Singles:

Runnin Wild.jpg
2007 Runnin' Wild EMI
TooMuchTooYoungTooFast.jpg
2007 Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast EMI
2008 Diamond in the Rough EMI
No Way But The Hard Way.jpg
2010 No Way But the Hard Way EMI
2010 Blonde, Bad and Beautiful EMI

EP:

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2004 Ready to Rock self release