Americana

Americana. It's music that draws from America's roots, from country, folk, bluegrass, R&B, the blues … But to Mark Lizotte, the musician known and loved as Diesel, Americana is the very core of his being. It's the music of his childhood and, as an artist born in America and raised in Australia, a link back to the land he'd left behind.

On his new album Americana, Diesel pays tribute to the artists that inspired the musician he would become - one of Australia's most lauded, accomplished and hard-working rock guitarists and singers - by putting his own unique stamp on a collection of classic songs.

His approach was to pluck a song from one artist, then throw it into another realm. "OK, you're from Nashville? I'm gonna take you to New York." Or in the case of Fire and Rain: "I've taken James Taylor and shoved him into a Memphis studio with Al Green."

The selection process was tortuous - "It's such a deep well; how far back do you go? I literally went: OK, I've got five minutes, grab the most essential things out of your house before the house burns down!'" - yet also fearless. Witness Diesel's thought process on daring to tackle Born to Run by The Boss, Bruce Springsteen:

"It's like someone saying, 'I'm going to rewrite the bible'," he laughs. "You just don't touch it! But I thought, if I'm gonna make an Americana album, I may as well get in the ring with Muhammad Ali - the featherweight's gonna take on the heavyweight and we'll see what happens."

With his own take on tracks by Johnny Cash, Tom Petty, Buddy Holly and Joni Mitchell, this album is a unique collection of songs we all know and love with a new twist.