He grew up in a famous rugby league family and chased his own NRL dream. Now Australian country-rocker James Keith has found inspiration in a woman living 16,000 kilometres away, and a romance that’s raised a few eyebrows.

Sixteen thousand kilometres is a fair distance to travel for a kiss.

For Australian country-rock singer James Keith, it’s also been the inspiration for an entire album, 14 songs about falling in love, missing someone terribly, overcoming the doubters and discovering what it means to become a better man.

His new album, I Call It Magic When I’m With You, is out today (October 9), but the story behind it began with a woman living on the other side of the world.

“I’d just met a new girl, and we’re in a long-distance relationship,” Keith tells Starts at 60.

“The album is all about the highs and lows of dating someone a long, long way away. I look at things in a really positive light, and it follows my journey over the last year and a half with her. It’s the proper album — all the stories are love letters to her, intertwined into one big story.”

For a bloke who grew up working on his family’s vineyard in Orange, NSW, and once dreamed of making it in rugby league, it’s quite a change of direction.

And there’s a familiar sporting surname lurking behind the microphone.

Keith is one of the Mortimer boys. His father played rugby league, while his brother Daniel Mortimer won an NRL premiership with the Sydney Roosters in 2013.

James himself spent four years at Manly, playing reserve grade, before music ultimately became his calling.

“I grew up there, building a vineyard with my four brothers and my mum and dad,” he recalls.

“It was hard work. Mum and Dad still own it, which is great, so I still go out there a fair bit.”

The family property, Mortimers of Orange, also provided the soundtrack to his childhood.

While the boys worked, their father’s CDs were on constant rotation: Cat Stevens, Dire Straits, The Beatles and plenty more. Then came INXS, 1927, The Living End, Lee Kernaghan and Shania Twain.

A trip to Nashville in 2014 cemented his love of country music.

“It completely changed me,” he says.

“I don’t know anyone who’s gone to Nashville and not come away a country music fan.

“The amount of talent there is phenomenal.”

Those influences help explain the sound of his new record, where rock guitars meet country storytelling and big, radio-friendly choruses.

But most of the songs have their roots in something much more personal.

A romance with a few obstacles

Keith’s girlfriend is German and lives in Switzerland. He lives in Sydney, has three children and runs a landscaping business alongside his musical career.

According to Keith, her family hasn’t exactly welcomed the relationship with open arms.

“I’m an older bloke, I’ve got three kids, and I live on the other side of the world,” he explains.

“I get it, being a parent, but they’re trying to convince her not to do it.”

Her grandparents, he says, have struggled particularly with the idea of their granddaughter dating an Australian musician.

“They have this vision of me as a musician living out of my van and all that. People are always going to have opinions, but they don’t know anything about me.”

One particularly memorable comment from her grandmother inspired the song Cruel Game.

“Her nan said, ‘What are you doing with this bloke? It’s just a cruel game you’re playing.’

“I kind of thought, I’ll show you, and made it into a song.”

He has clearly taken some of the criticism to heart, although he says meeting his partner has improved almost every part of his life.

“I’m as fit and healthy as I’ve ever been — actually, even better. I’m becoming a better father to my kids. I’m really understanding each kid as an individual, rather than seeing them as a collective.

“When you find someone who brings out the best in you, it shows up in your whole life.”

A song born on a Swiss mountain

One of the album’s most personal tracks, Man I Wanna Be, came from an unexpectedly difficult hike in Switzerland.

The couple underestimated a seven or eight-hour mountain trek and reached their accommodation very late, in darkness.

His girlfriend’s feet were terribly sore.

“I spent the whole night sitting up, rubbing her feet and being that protector. I wrote the song that night,” Keith says, the experience reminded him of the example set by his father.

“My dad is a perfect role model: he treats my mum so well, never swears, and makes breakfast every morning.”

Another track, Sixteen Thousand, features his girlfriend singing alongside him.

She originally wrote the song about Keith in German. Together, they translated and adapted it, blending her dance and Afrobeat influences with his acoustic country sound.

“Her voice complements mine so well,” he says.

“She has a beautiful, sweet, high voice, and I’ve got this thick, rusty, deep voice.”

Keith presented her with the completed album on her birthday, January 25, before deciding to release the songs publicly.

His advice for keeping love alive

At 42, Keith readily admits he sees relationships differently from his younger days.

And he has some advice for couples who’ve been together long enough for the early excitement to become a distant memory.

“Become your partner’s raving fan,” he says.

“When you’re first dating someone, think about the lengths you go to. If you take that into the whole relationship and beat the law of familiarity, you’ll have an amazing relationship.”

He believes couples can rediscover some of their early excitement by returning to the small gestures that first brought them together.

“If your relationship is on the rocks and you start acting like you did at the start — buying flowers, writing letters and all that — you’ll see a change.

“The more time and energy you put into somebody, the more you’ll get back.”

For now, the kilometres remain, along with the practical difficulties of maintaining a relationship across continents.

Keith is realistic about that, even if he’s determined to give it every chance.

“Whatever happens in the future is part of the story,” he says. “We love each other deeply, and I’m a good bloke.”

I Call It Magic When I’m With You is out October 9. Visit the James Keith website for more info.