15 December, 2015. 15:35
ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact
IT’S THE STORY of how a kid from upstate Victoria grew from humble beginnings to an international country-singing superstar. At long last, the tale of the 2008 Australian of the Year is now available for purchase at your local or online bookstore.
Lee Kernaghan has captivated audiences around the world and sold over two million records – but that’s where the story ends.
After struggling with insomnia for most of his life, Dale Nelson said he received Kernaghan’s 352-page sleeping pill as a birthday gift from his brother this year.
“We get each other ‘gag gifts’ most of the time,” said Dale. “He quit smoking about a month ago so I got him a pack of durries, just to be funny. Wrapped them up and everything. But when I opened my present and saw Lee staring back at me, we both lost it. Fuck it was funny.”
However, the break-through discovery wasn’t made until Dale was unable to sleep one night, something that happens quite regularly for the bullish 47-year-old. On nights like that, he’s finally able to get to sleep after washing down a handful of Xanax tablets with a middy of Jim Beam.
“The missus has been rousing me lately about drinking bourbon after I’ve brushed my teeth,” he said. “So I thought ‘fuck it,’ I’ll try and read something.”
Just seven pages into the memoir, he was out cold.
“I was waiting for the good parts, like maybe him learning how to keybang a WB. Or even him describing the time he first listened to ‘Friends in Low Places’. Just anything, you know?”
But there was nothing.
Dale told his doctor the next day, that he was able to get to sleep without the aid of prescription drugs or alcohol. It started a run-on-effect, in which medical professionals and psychiatrists around the country have begun telling their insomniac patients to read the country singer’s book.
The relief has almost been instant for thousands of sleep-deprived people.
