Jimmy Barnes reveals Flesh and Blood concert dates and Mother’s Day gift to 12 lucky mums

Before his new album and tour, Jimmy Barnes offers fans a special Mother’s Day gift for 12 Aussie mums. ENTER HERE

Jimmy Barnes is going to need a bigger tour bus.

As the rocker revealed the release and touring plans for his family album Flesh and Blood this weekend, his daughter Eliza Jane and her partner Jimmy Metherell welcomed their first child, a baby boy, the latest addition to the celebrated musical clan.

The rocker will be taking his family on the road in July to launch his new album Flesh and Blood which he recorded during lockdown with his wife Jane and children Mahalia, Jackie, Elly-May and Eliza Jane and granddaughter Tyra Harrison.

Jimmy Barnes portrait for his new album taken by nephew Jesse Lizotte. Picture: Supplied/Jesse Lizotte

Most of the songs were written with Barnes’ brother-in-law Diesel and son-in-law Ben Rodgers plays guitar and helped record the chart-topping rocker’s 20th studio album.

Barnes said the Flesh and Blood shows would be an upscaled but still intimate version of the online performances they have done over the past year to keep spirits lifted during the pandemic lockdowns. They have amassed 100 million views.

He joked the tour wages for his family bandmates are “going to cost me a fortune.”

“I don’t know if I can afford (to pay) me now,” he said.

As their 40th wedding anniversary approaches on May 22, Barnes said the “Jane Barnes Band” performances – nicknamed because of his guitar-slinging wife’s popularity with fans – had strengthened the couple’s bond.

Jimmy and Jane Barnes at home in the Southern Highlands where they recorded many of their online performances. Picture: Nikki Short

“The intimacy of doing those songs in COVID with Jane, as much as that connected us to the rest of the world and kept us tethered to our other life of touring, it also brought Jane and I closer together,” he said.

The isolation of lockdown and the forging of closer ties with their extended family inevitably inspired the Flesh and Blood songs.

After sharing the harrowing early years of his life in Glasgow and then Elizabeth in South Australia in his Working Class Boy memoir, Barnes said his new record doesn’t sugar-coat the hard work needed to keep family ties strong.

One of the more than 100 “Jane Barnes Band” performances. Picture: Supplied.

“All the original songs on the record I wrote in two weeks in the middle of all the COVID lockdowns and it started out as writing about family and relationships and love,” he said.

“So the songs were inspired by the isolation of COVID and having all the family around us but I didn’t want to sugar-coat it and families also have their dark sides, the fights you have and the effort it takes to make love work.

“It takes more than just smiling and hoping for the best.”

Barnes revealed the album’s title track at the recent memorial for his mate Michael Gudinski.

“Michael’s loss really hit us hard. Everything he did was about family one way or another which is probably why he liked that song so much. I’m dedicating this record to his memory,” he said.

Barnes will release Flesh and Blood on July 2 and is launching his album campaign with a very special gift for fans wanting to celebrate their mums.

Twelve lucky readers will score a personalised video message from the rocker to their mum in time for Mother’s Day. To enter, head here

Pre-sale tickets are available to jimmybarnes.com subscribers or via frontiertouring.com/jimmybarnes from May 3 with general tickets on sale from May 5.

The Flesh and Blood album cover. Picture: Supplied.

The Flesh and Blood tour

July 2 – Riverside Theatre, Perth

July 16 – Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide

July 22 – Palais Theatre, Melbourne

July 25 – Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre

July 28 – Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre

July 30 – State Theatre, Sydney