An album, a book and a podcast, Sportsman of the Year is a celebration of life, its foibles and its perfect imperfection, and tells a tale of grit and of never giving up.

An album, a book and a podcast, Sportsman of the Year is a celebration of life, its foibles and its perfect imperfection, and tells a tale of grit and of never giving up from award-winning singer and songwriter Jan Hellriegel.

I have left the trail that millions before me/have worn right down to the bitter core - "It's My Sin", Jan Hellriegel, 1992.

Sportsman of the Year - A Suburban Philosophy is a unique project.

It's an album of 12 new songs by award-winning singer and songwriter Jan Hellriegel.

But it's also a book that expands and puts flesh on the ideas and experiences captured in the songs.

And it's a podcast series, which mixes the words and the music together beautifully.

In every format, Sportsman is a celebration of life and its foibles as well as its perfect imperfection. It represents the journey, not the destination, and tells a tale of grit and of never giving up.

"My career has been nothing short of soul-destroying at times" says Jan. "And even though I have tossed my music aside on more than one occasion, I persevered. Through hardship came the wins, then more hardship, more flops, more lessons, more growth."

"Each time I failed, I learned something new and got back up and kept going."

Each episode of the podcast represents a song from the album and a chapter from the book. Sometimes it's clear which stories are related to which songs. Other times the meanings are open to interpretation. They can all be digested on their own or go hand-in hand with each other. They're not married, but they are good friends.

Sportsman of the Year - A Suburban Philosophy is not always an easy listen and some things might make you squirm. But this is how it happened for Jan. It's supposed to be a little sad, funny, perplexing and occasionally contradictory because every day the view changes while we all try to make the nonsensical comprehensible.

"If I have met you or if you have ever listened to a song of mine then you are right here in this podcast, these songs and this book, "says Jan.

"They are for you."

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details