FOR busy touring musicians like Lachlan Bryan and his bandmates, the last couple of years have been challenging to say the least.

Over the past decade the Melbourne based outfit has toured Europe and the USA many times, but earlier this year they planned – then had to cancel – four trips to festivals.

It was frustrating, but there wasn't much anyone could do – so it just might become another experience to inform his next body of work.

Lachlan Bryan grew up in Frankston as part of a very musical family – his uncles were in bands and his older brother used to conduct orchestras.

He remembers as a small child there were troupes of musicians in the lounge room, and it's perhaps because of that intensity, it was the last thing he wanted to do when he grew up.

"I did everything I could to avoid becoming a musician but it caught up with me," he said.

"By my late teens and early twenties I started playing in bands and at university I still didn't think I'd end up a musician, but enough things kept happening that it almost became the path of least resistance.

"I started writing songs and people seemed to like them.

"And I liked being in bands – I liked travelling, seeing a lot of places and going away with my best friends and calling it work."

Lachlan said he's fortunate that now he's closing in on 40 he's been able to keep doing it and, pandemic aside, it's got easier.

He no longer has to juggle part time jobs and ask for leave to go away on the weekends and play.

"For me, that was the point where I kind of thought that this was working," he said.

The development of his style, described loosely as Americana/alternative country with a focus on storytelling, was years in the making.

Lachlan grew from playing what he was hearing at the time, or what he thought people might like, to writing his own music, inspired by lesser known artists he discovered along the way.

He says he was half a dozen years into playing gigs when someone introduced him to singer/songwriter Townes Van Zandt, then to the likes of Steve Earle, Guy Clark and James McMurtry.

"I guess they were all country songwriters in one way or another but they didn't seem like country artists to me," he said.

"When I was growing up, when someone said country music I thought they meant Lee Kernaghan or Keith Urban.

"But then I learnt about all these artists who were flying under the radar who I found to be much more interesting (to me) and it lead me on a path of trying to make music I thought was interesting; that I thought said something that wasn't being said in popular and commercial music.

"I've been really fortunate that there have been enough people interested to keep me going.

"It's never the kind of music that's going to take over the world, but it's the kind of music that brings a lot of pleasure to a small number of people."

Over the past 10 years the band, which has Lachlan and bass player Shaun Ryan at the helm, has also released four records and picked up a string of awards, including the Golden Guitar for 'Alt Country Album of the Year' with their landmark release, Black Coffee.

Lachlan has described their album 'Some Girls (Quite) Like Country Music' as the band's most 'adult' work, the record drawing heavily upon the influence of the likes of Leonard Cohen and Billy Bragg as it does Willie Nelson and Townes Van Zandt.

In April this year strong presales for their 'Nearest Misses: Live' album pushed it to number one on the official ARIA Australian Country Albums charts, as well as to number 38 across all genres.

Their brand new studio album "As Long As It's Not Us" has just been released and is already receiving rave reviews.

The band has developed a strong and loyal following – something Lachlan understands having felt the same sense of loyalty towards those artists he gradually discovered and now treasures.

"The corner of music that I'm in seems like it might feel if you're an author or a painter – you don't have to be a household name to do something meaningful and have a career that's meaningful to other people too," he said.

The band hasn't visited Wangaratta before but they're looking forward to getting out and about again and playing with friends, duo The Weeping Willows, at the Vine Hotel tomorrow.

They've actually toured Europe together, playing in countries like Switzerland, Germany, England and Scotland.

Lachlan said he particularly enjoys playing regional venues, finding the audiences appreciate hearing what he has to say.

"The kind of music we make is more about the listening audience than the party crowd, so it's nice to go to a place where people are engaged, stick around afterwards and chat for ages," he said.

"There are a lot of educated music fans in regional Victoria that come out to our shows and it's fantastic to play for those people."

He says the show will include plenty of storytelling, the band playing songs people will get something out of, or perhaps what you might call country music "for people who don't just want to hear about trucks and girls".

Lachlan Bryan and The Wildes will play as part of the Americana Carnival at the Vine Hotel on Saturday from 12pm until 9pm, with more information at www.thevinehotel.net.au.