US country singer-songwriter Bryan Martin will return to Australia in April 2026 for his first headline tour, bringing his songs from Years In The Making to Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne after building a strong following from his previous visit.
by Paul Cashmere
Bryan Martin will step onto Australian stages this April for the first time as a headline act, marking a significant milestone in the Louisiana-born artist’s growing international career. The tour follows his breakthrough performance at CMC Rocks in 2024 and comes after a period of rapid global growth driven by streaming success, major touring opportunities and the continued expansion of his catalogue.
The April 2026 run will see Martin perform headline shows in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, while also appearing at the Meatstock festivals in Toowoomba and Gippsland during the same visit. For Martin, returning to Australia has been a priority since his first experience performing here.
“It’s a big deal for me,” Martin said ahead of the tour. “I’ve been over there once and felt the support, so getting to come back and play my own shows is something I’ve looked forward to since we got back from our first trip over there.”
Martin first connected with Australian audiences at CMC Rocks in 2024, where he played to one of the festival’s largest crowds. The response from fans made a lasting impression.
“It was how familiar it felt,” he said. “You’re a long way from home, but then you look out and people know the songs, they’re singing along, and they’re paying attention to the words. They were loud and engaged. It caught me a little off guard and really stuck with me. I knew then that I had to come back.”
The upcoming headline shows will allow Martin to present a broader version of his live set than a festival slot typically permits. While festival appearances focus on introducing audiences to key songs, a headline show allows him to explore deeper material from his catalogue.
“At a festival, you’re trying to grab people that might not know you, so the set’s tighter and a little more direct,” he explained. “Headline shows are where you can open it up, play the deeper cuts, talk a little more. It’s more of a full picture of who you are.”
Martin’s international profile has grown steadily over the past several years, driven in part by the success of the single We Ride. The song became a defining moment in his career, earning Platinum certification and climbing to No. 3 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart while reaching a global audience through streaming platforms.
“Yeah, you could feel it building,” Martin said of the song’s momentum. “More people at shows, more messages coming in, more opportunities. It didn’t feel overnight, but it was steady. That song definitely helped put things on a different level and opened up some doors.”
Since that breakthrough, Martin has shared stages with leading figures in contemporary country music, including Jason Aldean, and performed in stadiums alongside Morgan Wallen on the One Night At A Time Tour. He also made his debut at the Stagecoach Festival in 2025, an important platform for artists establishing themselves in the international country circuit.
Those experiences, Martin says, helped shape his approach to live performance.
“You learn a lot just watching how those guys carry themselves, how they command a stage, how they take care of fans,” he said. “You pick up a lot from just being around it.
At the same time, it pushes you to just keep doing what you do. To stick to who you are.”
Central to Martin’s songwriting is the sense of lived experience that has informed his music since his earliest releases. His Cherokee Indigenous American heritage plays a role in shaping that perspective.
“It’s a part of who I am,” he said. “There’s a respect for truth, for where you come from, for the struggle and the pride in it. I try to write songs that mean something. Not just for me, but for anybody who’s lived through hard things and kept going.”
That approach carries through to his most recent album Years In The Making, released in 2025, and the new single Tug O’ War. The record reflects a period of personal reflection as Martin continues to expand his audience while remaining grounded in the autobiographical storytelling that defines his work.
“A lot of it’s about that push and pull of trying to move forward but still dealing with your past,” he said of the album’s themes. “There’s growth in there through all the miles, but it’s not clean or easy. It’s about being honest about where you’re at.”
With more than 1.4 billion streams globally and a nomination for MusicRow’s 2024 Breakthrough Artist-Writer of the Year, Martin has emerged as one of the more distinctive voices within modern country music. His rise reflects a broader shift in the genre, where artists grounded in personal storytelling are finding audiences across international markets including Australia.
For Australian fans, the April tour represents the next stage in that relationship. The shows will offer a closer view of Martin’s songwriting and performance style after the large-scale festival appearances that first introduced him to local audiences.
“It’s gonna be real, it’s gonna be loud, and it’s gonna come from the heart,” Martin said of the upcoming tour. “Giving all we got each night. I hope people leave feeling like they were part of something.”
Bryan Martin’s April 2026 Australian tour dates are:
Tuesday 14 April, Brisbane, Brightside Outdoors
Wednesday 15 April, Sydney, Oxford Art Factory
Thursday 16 April, Melbourne, The Espy, Gershwin Room
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