JIMMY Barnes has been performing for 40 years and people who are familiar with his Cold Chisel and solo work could be forgiven for believing his Mackay gig will rock the foundations to the ground, but that is not what this show is about.

Jimmy's on tour around the country in conjunction with the release of his memoir 'Working Class Boy', which chronicles his life from a young boy growing up in Glasgow to the beginnings of Cold Chisel in 1974.

Many people will know of his legendary hard rock days with Cold Chisel when, on any given night, it was not unusual for Jimmy to drink a bottle of vodka on stage while belting out tunes; however, as much as that may have been seen as the life of a rock star, it was really a man screaming at the world in anger behind a microphone.

"Performing on stage with Cold Chisel allowed me to get my anger, fear and emotions out and I found that easy but lyrically I didn't write about my past; however, I believe my early life did affect the way I sang, on stage" Jimmy said.

Working Class Boy is a memoir of Jimmy's life in the tough northern suburbs of Adelaide in the 60s while facing violence, both on the streets and within his own family.

"The book was something I had to do because it had been eating me up for years," he said.

"There are a lot of things in the book that are personal, that I had pushed away from out of my memory because I didn't want to look at it as it was eating me up from the inside out."

Jimmy said writing the book helped him deal with his anger and emotions of living with a violent mother and father and the eventual collapse of his family, with domestic violence at the forefront of his childhood.

"It really opened up a can of worms but it was better to have it out in the open so I could deal with my past, which was surrounded by poverty, violence and abuse," he said.

"During the show I talk about my personal experiences as a child with domestic violence and I tell stories that I'm comfortable talking about as I believe there needs to be a change in the way we approach domestic violence and the effects it has not only on the family but within the broader community as well."

Jimmy said his show, 'Working Class Boy: an evening of stories and songs' is not about his Cold Chisel days but more about his childhood and the stories and music that meant something to him at the time.

"The songs I do meant something to me when I was a child and come from the radio and even from my grandmother, but most of all they are songs that strike a cord with me and are relevant to the situations I'm talking about in the book," he said.

"It's been an emotional ride and the audience seem to go on that journey of emotions with me."

Working Class Boy: An evening of songs and stories

• When: Tuesday, March 14 at 
• Where: Mackay Entertainment and Convention Centre
• Tickets: Start from $79. Click here to purchase tickets.