PASSENGER

For Brighton, UK born and bred yet very much the adopted Australian son singer songwriter Mike Rosenberg, being independent has proven to be the best road he could have taken. There was a time, back in the early 2000s, when things looked very different. There was a five-piece band called Passenger and the big money label behind it and there was a critically acclaimed debut album, Wicked Man’s Rest, but when the members of that band chose to go their own separate ways in 2007, Rosenberg opted to stick with the Passenger moniker and trust in his music, his voice and his guitar to take him where it would. He took to the streets and discovered not only that the experience enormous fun, but it also proved empowering for the likeable musical troubadour.

He has been opening for one of UK pop music’s most influential figures, Jools Holland, as well as Ed Sheeran, who just had the #1 album in the UK, and Australian acts the John Butler Trio and Josh Pyke, with whom he co-headlined a UK tour.
“It was great!” Mike admits, that ubiquitous smile on his face. “I did shows with the John Butler Trio over here and in Europe as well. It makes such a difference when you play to those kinds of crowds compared to the busking, which as I say is like playing to each person individually sometimes, it is amazing to then be on a bigger stage and reaching such a big audience in one go.”

It’s been a remarkable journey for Rosenberg, a journey that has inspired some of the finest songwriting you’ll hear anywhere, whether on a street corner, a sweaty rock’n’roll room or a concert stage. Listening to him, whether on record or in performance, you can tell he’s having the time of his life, and it’s all there on his new album, All The Little Lights. And the most exciting this is you just know there’s plenty more to come.