The condition was never officially diagnosed, but Neil Noll reckoned that his three sons, Adam, Damian and Shannon, were all crossed eyed. The affliction would flare up intermittently, and Noll senior noticed that it tended to be at its worst on Wednesdays.

That was the day when the boys should have had their shoulders hard to the wheel working on the family farm in Condobolin, New South Wales, but they seemed to be looking back to what they got up to last weekend looking forward to the fun they would have on the coming weekend.

Since their early teen years the three brothers have made music. Their parents allowed them to set up in the shearing sheds and the boys blasted away their favourite rock and country classics. Middle brother Damian, affectionately known as Bam Bam for the pounding he gave his drum kit, says that he recalls a neighbour who lived nearly 10 kms away said he could tell when the Noll boys had downed tools and picked
up instruments. They could not have possibly known how far those informal jam sessions would have taken them, but they did know that their already close bond was further strengthened by making music together.

The Nolls are close. Always have been. To find how close you just need to go back to Adam’s wedding eight years ago. “When I got married, my dad was my best man,” he says with a laugh. “A lot of people wondered why but dad was as good a mate as I’ve ever had. I defined the term and my two brothers were my groomsmen and my dad was my best man.”

The four of them worked the sheep and wheat farm as their family had for over a century. (They would lose Neil tragically in a work accident in 2001, the farm being sold in 2003). Toiling, often just feet apart, they shared the good times and bad, the bonds could not be broken even after knock off on Friday. Once the whistle had blown for the week the trio loaded up their vehicles to travel rural Australia spreading their good time sounds for similar country folk with itchy feet, dry throats and hungry ears.

Cyprus, as they were called, played rock and country for people who don’t see such a great distinction between the two. They loved cranking out Springsteen and Mellencamp but found that Garth Brooks went over really well too. They would throw in the occasional original but guessed that wasn’t what the crowd had come to hear, so they mostly played classics. Looking back over the decade or so when this was the routine Adam is proud of the reputation the band built and guesses the audience had nearly as much fun as they did.

Everything changed when the youngest brother Shannon auditioned for the first season of Australian Idol. Ultimately he would place second, and then go on to be the most successful artist the show has brought to the public’s attention. As soon as was feasible Shannon called for his brothers to join him in his road band, positions they held for more than three years. One of Damian’s songs, The Way That I Feel made its way onto Shannon’s debut album, and that success as well as
watching how the game is played on the main stage encouraged the brothers to continue with their writing. ...

They had learned some crucial lessons about the business. One was that you should take advantage of an opportunity when it presents itself, the other was that if you can generate your own quality material you will be ahead of the pack.

“That lit the pilot light,” Damain explains “and encouraged me to look
inside myself and see what was there’’. Adam and Damian kept writing
as they toured with Shannon. “After that it started to come easy. A
lot of it is life and life experiences and then trying to mould them
into a feel good story. There’s enough bad things going on in the
world without having to write songs that bring people down.”

Most of the songs on their debut album, A Country Heart, expound this simple philosophy. It wasn’t planned that way, but they stayed true to
their muse. If it was coming out country, then country it would be.
They were announced as finalists in this year’s Golden Guitars awards in the Best Group Or Duo Category for their performance
on lead single Shining Star.

“We grew up listening to country music and we are country boys,”
Damian says. “I think it was inevitable we were gonna go that way.
It’s very much like that. I write country songs so it was like, blow
it, let’s do it. The further we went along the better things started
to sound. We listen to similar types of music. We start on things
separately but collaborate when we put them together. I think the
trust factor is great.”

“We’re country guys through and through,” adds Adam with a big
brother’s authoritative touch. “When music’s a part of your life I
think it commands a lot of your time and your thoughts. We’re in the
driver’s seat now and I know there’s a lot of hard work to be done,
but by the same token I know we can do it at a pace where we can take it all in.”


You’d think Neil would now be very proud of his sons’ vision.

The Noll Brothers

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