The Australian country music megastar and former Australian of the Year for his services to regional and rural people will soon stirring up the dust as he drives back into Ballarat for another show sure to resonate with fans.

Born in Victoria, Kernaghan now lives just south of Brisbane, and still loves nothing more than getting out on the road.

“Whenever I take my Landcruiser out west and get out onto those back roads...you really are in the bush and I always feel a great weight comes off my shoulders and I’m enveloped in a strange sense of freedom,” he said.

“There’s this wonderful exhilaration that comes when you leave the bitumen road behind you and you see a cloud of dust in your rearview mirror and the open road is leading you on to the next adventure.”

Kernaghan said he was sure that despite an evolving Australian community, the nation still had a strong country musical heart.

“I think the kind of music that I make is not so much country music, it’s the music of our country, and whether you live in Ballarat or Melbourne or Kalgoorlie, those songs resonate,” he said.

“This is what it’s all about. My driving inspiration is to write songs about Australia, our people, our way of life.”

Last year, Kernaghan united with a range of high-profile Australian musicians - including Guy Sebastian, Sheppard, Jon Stevens, Jessica Mauboy, Shannon Noll and Megan Washington - to create the moving charity single, Spirit of the Anzacs.

The song rocketed its way to success and ARIA awards, with his album of the same name the highest selling Australian album of 2015.

Kernaghan said he was inspired to write the song after visiting the Australian War Memorial and was shown soldiers’ letters home to their families.

“There is an extraordinary power in songs and in music. It was emotionally quite overwhelming.”

Kernaghan will perform at Her Majesty’s Theatre on May 21. Visit www.hermaj.com or 5333 5888.