Tom Fisher and The Layabouts launch new single Run Boy

Country-blues rock band Tom Fisher and The Layabouts are set to celebrate the release of their newest track Run Boy, out on Friday, October 23, with a single launch party.

The Fremantle rockers will hit the Duke of George, East Fremantle, on Sunday, November 1 with Western Australian folk singer-songwriter Billie Rogers set to support.

Run Boy is the group’s first single since 2020 album Half a Man and sees singer-songwriter Tom Fisher take a new approach with his songwriting. A dark, cinematic tale of crime, revenge and the cycles of hurt that can be difficult to escape, Run Boy draws inspiration from the many regional tours that have taken the band across Western Australia.

“Run Boy is the first time I’ve really written a fictional tale that isn’t based on my own experiences,” says Fisher. “The story unfolds in a regional town and is based around a cycle of crime and hurt that is hard for some people to escape.”

Fisher constructs a fictional tale set in a regional town, with the song following a recently released man returning to town to find the person he believes took his wife. As the night unfolds, a drink, a final cigarette, and a last note to his mother lead him towards an inevitable confrontation.

Recorded and produced by Dan Carroll at Rada Studios, Fisher as chief songwriter and The Layabouts contributing to the song and the recording, the track showcases their uniquely Australian perspective with a southern-inspired country blues sound.

The band has released two albums to date and were the winners of the WAM Song of the Year Blues & Roots category in 2019 for Old Man of the Blues.