The Very Best of Lee Kernaghan: Three Decades of Hits

Country Australia is as much in Lee Kernaghan’s blood as in his music: He was born in the small Victorian town of Corryong with a truck driver for a father, dairy farmer’s daughter for a mother, and sheep-and-cattle drover for a grandfather. Whether he’s glorifying its scenic beauty in “Scrubbashin’,” written after the singer-songwriter visited Amburla Station in the Northern Territory, or using it as the backdrop for a love song (“Goondiwindi Moon”), Australia and its cast of characters have long found a home in Kernaghan’s music. This 62-song set—curated by the artist himself to celebrate the 30th anniversary of his 1992 debut album The Outback Club—takes in everything from rollicking knees-ups (1992’s “Boys From the Bush”) and beefy country rock (2017’s “Damn Good Mates,” featuring The Wolfe Brothers) to traditional country (the 1993 Slim Dusty duet “Leave Him in the Longyard”; 2012’s “Flying With the King,” Kernaghan’s celebration of Dusty). Rare is the artist who can pull off both a love song to a car (“She’s My Ute”) and a heartfelt paean to the Anzacs (“Spirit of the Anzacs”), but like Australia itself, there are many sides to Lee Kernaghan.