Country Music Capital News - May 2019 Volume 44 No 5

(INC.GST)

MAY 2019 VOL. 44 NO.5

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MAREN MORRIS

REIGNS ON GAME OF THRONES THE VIPER CREEK BAND THEIR MUSICAL TRADEMARK years of bringing you the music 1975–2019

DARREN COGGAN HONOURING A LEGEND

WARD THOMAS MUSIC FOR THE MODERN WORLD C O U N T RY M U S I C C A P I TA L N E W S M AY 2 0 1 9

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years of bringing you the music 1975–2019

years of bringing you the music 1975–2019

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Lindsay Waddington New Album

NullarboR Out Now!

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www.krosskutrecords.com.au

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years of bringing you the music 1975–2019

years of bringing you the music 1975–2019

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FROM THE EDITOR

WHAT IS COUNTRY MUSIC? I DON’T HAVE AN ANSWER SO THIS HEADING IS MISLEADING.

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s we were putting this issue together we were drawn to the debate over the song Old Town Road by 20-year-old US rapper Lil Nas X. Billy Ray Cyrus had jumped to his defence after Billboard pulled the song from its Hot Country Songs stating; “upon further review, it was determined that Old Town Road by Lil Nas X does not currently merit inclusion on Billboard‘s country charts.

When determining genres, a few factors are examined, but first and foremost is musical

composition. While Old Town Road incorporates references to country and cowboy imagery, it does not embrace enough elements of today’s country music to chart in its current version.�

Billy Ray Cyrus says there was “no doubt the song was country and western� and Keith Urban said it had a “country treatment�.

Well, after listening to the first

version I agree with Keith however I still didn’t think that version was country as I know country to be. The second version that included Billy Ray was stripped back enough to get the feel, and Keith peeled back all the layers to finally find it.

It’s certainly sparked a huge debate in the music world .. the old chestnut .. what is country music and we’d love to hear your thoughts?

In this issue, I’ve introduced three new segments – Behind The Music – The Sidemen and Where Are They Now?. I really hope you like them and if you have anyone you’d like to put forward please give me a call or send an email or a message to our Facebook page.

Our writer David Dawson delivers our cover story on Maren Morris this month and we have profiled two UK artists – Gary Quinn, who is also co-founder of the Buckle and Boots Festival being held this month in Manchester UK, and twin sister duo Ward Thomas who toured Australia last month.

Keep up-to-date with 2019 Toyota Star Maker winner Blake O’Connor and in our One To Watch series meet Star Maker grand finalist Leigha Moore and much, much more.

Cheryl Byrnes Cheryl@tamworthcountrymusic.com.au

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M A Y FEATURES MAREN MORRIS DARREN COGGAN WARD THOMAS GARY QUINN THE VIPER CREEK BAND DAVE PROUST BILLY RAY CYRUS TIFFANY WOYS MICHAEL RAY DARIUS RUCKER

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EDITOR Cheryl Byrnes P: 0407 106 966 E: cheryl@tamworthcountrymusic.com.au ADVERTISING Joanne Maiden P: 0429 784 860 E: joanne@tamworthcountrymusic.com.au SUBSCRIPTIONS Linda Bridges P: 02 6767 5555 CONTRIBUTORS Allan Caswell, Anna Rose, Bob Kirchner, Bec Belt, CMA, CMAA, Dan Biddle, David Dawson, Jon Wolfe, Haley Craig, Lorraine Pfitzner, Peter Coad, Susan Jarvis, Tom Inglis, and our great mates in publicity and record companies nationally and internationally.

PHOTOGRAPHERS Andrew Pearson, Glen Hannah, Greg Sylvia, and to our many suppliers and those credited throughout.

TRC TEAM Karlee Cole, Eleanor Turnbull and Kyla Hill.

ART AND DESIGN Sam Woods UPCOMING DEADLINES: MAY 2019: May 1, 2019 JUNE 2019: May 1, 2019

PUBLISHER Tamworth Regional Council 437 Peel Street, Tamworth NSW 2340 P: 02 6767 5555

REGULARS

8 NASHVILLE NEWS 11 TSM UPDATE 29 LIVE CM SCENE 31 BEHIND THE MUSIC 35 THE SIDEMEN 36 WHERE ARE THEY NOW? 37 CMAA UPDATE 38 ONE TO WATCH – LEIGHA MOORE 39 HEAR & THERE 40 FESTIVALS 45 SOUND ADVICE 56 COUNTRY CHARTS 58 BUSH BALLADS 60 DOWN MEMORY LANE 61 WRITING GREAT SONGS 62 COMING EVENTS 63 NEWS

Country Music Capital News is compiled and published monthly by Tamworth Regional Council, 437 Peel Street, Tamworth NSW 2340. The views and opinions expressed in Capital News are not necessarily those of the publisher. Copyright 2019 Tamworth Regional Council, ABN 52631074450. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part by any manner or method whatsoever without the written permission is prohibited. All statements made in advertising are the sole responsibility of the advertiser in respect of legal and industrial relations. Printed by Fairfax Printing, 159 Bells Line of Road, North Richmond. 2754. ISSN 1440-995X years of bringing you the music 1975–2019

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NEWS

NEW ALBUM FOR JASMINE RAE

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ulti-award winner, Jasmine Rae, has released her new single, Right Now, the first from her muchanticipated upcoming new album, set for release in early 2020.

New music from Jasmine has been a while coming and Right Now gives a taste of what is yet to come. Produced

by Lindsey Jackson (Jessica Mauboy, Tori Kelly, The McClymonts) and co-written with emerging Australian duo Winterbourne (James Draper and Jordan Brady), the track came about through Jasmine confronting her personal struggles.

Jasmine is a three-time ARIA nominee, nine-time Golden Guitar finalist, only female solo artist to ever win the prestigious fan-voted CMC Oz Artist of the Year award and has achieved 10 #1 Australian country singles and music videos to her credit.

Jasmine has been recognised internationally with the CMA Jeff Walker Global Artist of the Year award and was named as a grand-finalist in the 2016 International Songwriting Awards.

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INTERNATIONAL CMA AWARDS CHUGG MD SUSAN HEYMANN AND TRAVIS COLLINS WERE RECOGNISED FOR THEIR OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTIONS TO COUNTRY MUSIC.

(L-R) Co-Director of CMC Rocks & CEO of Potts Entertainment Jeremy Dylan; Maven Manager Ken Outch; Luke Combs; Travis Collins; Cam; CMA Vice President of International Relations and Development Milly Olykan; Head of ABC Music & Events Natalie Waller.

(L-R) Chugg Entertainment Executive Chairman & CMC Rocks CoDirector Michael Chugg; Uncommon Cord Founder & CEO Matthew Lazarus-Hall; Spotify Global Head of Country Programming John Marks; Chugg Entertainment Managing Director Susan Heymann; CMA Vice President of International Relations and Development Milly Olykan; Ashley McBryde; Warner Music Nashville Chairman/ CEO John Esposito; Apple Music Nashville’s Jay Liepis.

he Jo Walker Meador award recognises outstanding achievement by an individual advocating and supporting country music’s marketing development in territories outside the United States.

Visiting US stars Luke Combs and Cam presented Travis Collins with the CMA Jeff Walker Global Country Artist Award backstage in Sydney prior to him opening Comb’s Enmore Theatre show on his sold-out Australian tour. The award recognises outstanding achievements by a country music artist signed outside of the United States who has

furthered the popularity of country music as well as brought attention to the format in their foreign based territory.

This year, the award was presented to two acts, the other recipient being British Country duo Ward Thomas, who received their award from Cam earlier this month while she was in London for a CMA Songwriters Series show during the C2C: Country to Country festival.

A number of other awards were presented including to Kacey Musgraves who was presented with the International Artist Achievement Award prior to her performance at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium.

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NOMINATIONS OPEN FOR ROLL OF RENOWN

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he Roll Of Renown has been honouring Australians and New Zealanders who have made a significant and lasting contribution to country music since Tex Morton received the first accolade in 1976.

Members of the independent selection panel of the Australasian Country Music Roll Of Renown will decide the winner of this prestigious award.

To propose someone who fulfils the criteria, email rollofrenown@tcmf.com.au before June 30.

The 51st Roll of Renown will be announced at the Country Music Awards of Australia on Sunday, January 25, 2020 and unveiled the following day.

You can see the full list of recipients at https://www.tcmf.com.au/roll-of-renown

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PHOTO: CHRIS HOLLO/GRAND OLE OPRY

NASHVILLE NEWS

Pictured (L-R): Grand Ole Opry’s Sally Williams, Black River Entertainment’s Kim and Terry Pegula, Kelsea Ballerini, Black River Entertainment’s Gordon Kerr, Sandbox Entertainment’s Jason Owen and Black River Entertainment’s Rick Froio.

KELSEA, YOUNGEST OPRY MEMBER KELSEA BALLERINI WAS INDUCTED AS THE NEWEST AND YOUNGEST MEMBER OF THE GRAND OLE OPRY ON APRIL 16.

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fter Kelsea had performed a three-song set Carrie Underwood took to the stage and surprised the sold-out Opry House crowd and said to Kelsea, “You have accomplished so much in your career, and you will undoubtedly accomplish infinite amounts more in your life.

Awards, number ones, sales … this is better than all of that. This is the heart and soul of country music.”

Carrie said, “I am honoured to introduce and induct the newest member of the Grand

REDEMPTION DAY

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heryl Crow has re-released a song she wrote in 1996.

Redemption Day is a duet with the late Johnny Cash and was written following a visit to Bosnia with then First Lady Hillary Clinton.

In 2003, she sang at June Carter Cash’s funeral, and soon after, received a call from one of Johnny Cash’s sons-in-law, who said that he had played Redemption Day for Cash and that he wanted to talk to her. “He asked a lot of questions about different lines years of bringing you the music 1975–2019

Ole Opry, Kelsea Ballerini.”

The pair then performed a duet on Trisha Yearwood’s 1992 hit Walkaway Joe. Keith Urban also made a surprise appearance to deliver congratulations to Kelsea and to perform his hit Blue Ain’t Your Colour and Vince Gill surprised the audience by joining with his friends the Del McCoury Band during the group’s portion of the show. and what I meant,” says Sheryl.

Cash recorded the song and told Sheryl that he felt it was the cornerstone of his next album, but his version wasn’t released until 2010’s American VI: Ain’t No Grave album.

While on tour in 2014 Crow performed Redemption Day as a duet with Cash’s recording, and projecting his image onstage which inspired her to approach his estate with the idea of rerecording the song, adding Cash’s voice to a new arrangement.

54TH ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS WINNERS

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inners have been announced for the 54TH ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS™ with Keith Urban named as Entertainer of the Year, the evening’s biggest honour.

In addition to entertainer of the year, Keith will receive the prestigious ACM Triple Crown Award, as he previously received awards for New Male Vocalist of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year.

The list of winners include: Kacey Musgraves won Female Vocalist of the Year for the ninth consecutive year and Album of the Year as both artist and producer for Golden Hour. Thomas Rhett won Male Vocalist of the Year for the second time. Dan + Shay won Duo, Song and Single of the Year and Dan Smyers received two individual wins as a producer in Single of the Year category and Songwriter in the Song of the Year category.

During the event, former ACM Artist of the Decade Award honouree George Strait presented Jason Aldean with the ACM Dick Clark Artist of the Decade award, then Aldean performed a medley of his hits.

Old Dominion won Group of the Year Award for the second consecutive year. Dierks Bentley and Brothers Osborne won Music Event of the Year for Burning Man, and Reba McEntire surprised Chris Janson backstage before the show that he’d won ACM Video of the Year for Drunk Girl.

Luke Combs, LANCO and Ashley McBryde were also previously announced winners of the New Male Artist, New Group and New Female Artist of the Year, respectively and each performed on the show.

The winners received a surprise phone call from host Carrie Underwood last month notifying them of the news.

Shane McAnally was announced as the winner of this year’s ACM Songwriter of the Year Award.

The event was again hosted by Reba McEntire.

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TEXAN MAREN MORRIS

REIGNS ON GAME OF THRONES 12

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BY DAVID DAWSON

WHEN MAREN MORRIS RECORDED HER FIRST ALBUM IN NORTH TEXAS CITY ARLINGTON AT THE AGE OF 14 SHE LIVED IN SHADOWS OF HEAVY METAL HOMETOWN HEROES, BROTHERS DIMEBAG DARRELL AND VINNIE PAUL OF PANTERA.

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ut, now aged 29, the 2016 Grammy winner upstaged them with huge selling crossover hit The Middle, her own albums and Kingdom Of One – first single from the 2019 HBO box office smash Game Of Thrones.

And Morris is quick to credit much of her success to singing spouse Ryan Hurd, 32, whom she met at a writing session on Last Turn Home for singing actor Tim McGraw who makes his third Australian tour a month after Morris’s second visit in August.

Hurd hails from Kalamazoo in Michigan and not only inspired and wrote songs on her huge selling fifth album Girl but penned hits for Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan.

In 2015 he wrote Lonely Tonight – a #1 hit for Shelton and Pistol Annie Ashley Monroe before his first single from his self-titled EP We Do Us scored over 2 million streams on Spotify.

Ryan also played the lassoed and roped victim Buffalo Hurd of bounty hunter Morris in her spaghetti western video for Rich, filmed in a Tucson movie town.

He also fuelled her fascination for watching Game Of Thrones and Breaking Bad at their home.

So it was no surprise Morris “geeked out” early this year when the chart-topping duo received specially embossed Game Of Thrones wine and wine glasses gift boxes from the TV show producers long before her song Kingdom of One debuted on April 12.

In 2014 Morris tweeted about her love for Game of Thrones – “cannot get enough of the show. That and Breaking Bad may be the best television shows I’ve ever watched.”

Hurd is also a fan.

“We watch the show together unless we are just out of town and we have to see it.”

years of bringing you the music 1975–2019

“I’d be really pissed if he watched Game of Thrones without me,” she said.

They met when writing Last Turn Home for McGraw’s 2014 album Sundown Heaven Town before she wrote Second Wind for fellow Texan Kelly Clarkson’s 2015 album Piece By Piece.

Morris also wrote a song for NCIS: New Orleans in 2017 before she and Hurd penned All My Favourite People (featuring Brothers Osborne) and Great Ones on Girl.

But Maren is also indebted to Melbourne born singersongwriter Sarah Aarons with whom she wrote The Middle with Greg Kerstin and two songs on her new album.

Morris trumped other artists who recorded versions of the song by DJ and dance producer Zedd including Demi

SHE’S SO TALENTED. HER VOICE IS SO UNIQUE AND RASPY. I WISH SHE’D MAKE A RECORD. I’D BUY IT IN A SECOND.” Lovato, Bebe Rexha and Carly Rae Jepsen.

“I didn’t hear any of the other people’s versions,” Morris revealed of the song that sold 750,000 copies in the U.S. where it featured in a Target ad and hit #7 in the Australian and UK charts.

“Zedd probably has them locked in a vault somewhere.

The only one I ever heard was Sarah’s demo.”

Aarons and Kerstin also wrote another Zedd hit Stay, sung by Alessa Cara.

“I knew the task of doing Sarah’s song justice was large enough,” explained Morris of the song nominated for two Grammy Awards including record of the year.

“That was probably why they were having such a difficult time finding the right vocalist because Sarah made the song her own. It quickly became karaoke if you tried to stray away from she had already created. She’s so talented.

Her voice is so unique and raspy. I wish she’d make a record. I’d buy it in a second.”

Morris also collaborated with Aarons and Kerstin on the title track of Girl and Common (featuring Brandi Carlile) –

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“SO YOU WANNA PLAY GOD, COME ON IS THAT ALL YOU GOT, COME ON WOULD YOU SELL YOUR SOUL, BURN IT ALL EVERYTHING THAT YOU LOVE ASH TO ASH, DUST TO DUST EVERYTHING IN GOD ABOVE SHED A TEAR, SHED YOUR BLOOD NO, YOU CANNOT GIVE ENOUGH FINALLY BECOME SECOND TO NONE IN A KINGDOM OF ONE.” KINGDOM OF ONE – MAREN MORRIS/WAYNE HECTOR/NATE MERCEREAU/ SAM HARRIS/RICKY REED.

a member of Maren’s new super group The Highwomen.

The band also features former Drive By Truckers graduate and roots country star Jason Isbell’s singing spouse Amanda Shires and Missouri minstrel and singer-songwriter Natalie Hemby who penned hits for Texans Lee Ann Womack, Sunny Sweeney, Miranda Lambert and Eli Young Band and Oklahoma star Toby Keith.

The Highwomen made their world debut with a cover of Kitty Wells’ It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels at Loretta Lynn’s 87th birthday celebration in Nashville on April 1 and plan to release an album.

Morris, who co-wrote all 25 songs on her last two albums, expanded on her admiration for expat Aussie Aarons.

“Sarah is very direct and to the point,” Morris revealed.

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“I’m always refreshed by no bullshit people who say it like it is. That’s why her song-writing is connecting so much on all her musical endeavours, not just the work we have done together.”

Morris’s video for Girl features her in a tee-shirt embroidered with the word “feminist”.

“It’s a human issue not really a political one to me, that’s why I felt so bold making that statement,” Morris explained.

“I want it to become normal. I want kids or teenagers or anyone watching my videos or anything to do with country music. I want that to become the new normal.”

Morris expands on her mainstream appeal by including

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her collaboration with Hurd on All My Favourite People that features Brothers Osborne.

Brothers Osborne filmed live versions of their songs including Weed, Whiskey & Willie from second album Port Saint Joe at a Terapin care station in Colorado where marijuana is grown legally.

Morris’s album includes Great Ones – penned with Hurd – that celebrates their love for each other.

“It’s definitely a genre-less record,” says Morris of the album that includes instructions to turn it over to side 2 mid-way through it.

“I don’t even think any more about genre lines when I’m making something. I never want to have that feeling over my head - is this going to be panned by country critics or pop critics? It sounds so cliché but it should be just about whether it’s good music. My song-writing style is very Nashvillian. I’ve learned from the best song-writers how to write lyrics and tell a story but the music can skew country or rock or R & B or straight up folk. It’s all over the place but my voice and lyrics tie it together in a cohesive way.”

years of bringing you the music 1975–2019

That enabled Morris to join peers in the celebration of revered singing actor Dolly Parton at the 2019 Grammy awards and tour with fellow Texans Kacey Musgraves and Miranda Lambert.

She also appeared with Taylor Swift in hometown Arlington on her Reputation tour and performed The Middle with her.

Morris wrote Dear Hate with Oklahoma born star Vince Gill after the 2017 Las Vegas and donated all proceeds from the track going to Music City Cares Fund.

Maren also collaborated vocally with recent Georgian tourist Thomas Rhett on his 2017 hit Craving You. It’s a far cry from when her dad bought her first guitar when she was 12 and she released debut album Walk On in June 14, 2005, before graduating from the University Of North Texas in 2010.

“At the beginning, I was really timid,” says Morris who left her college band They Were Stars Back In Texas and headed to Nashville.

“I didn’t know how to voice an opinion, because I felt like

years of bringing you the music 1975–2019

I was going to sound uneducated or like I was being too aggressive.

Unfortunately, as a woman, that’s the thought that’s always in your head when you want to state an opinion.”

Morris is now mentoring Kiara Brown – an aspiring singersongwriter on the Women Who Rock Music and Mentorship program on the Today show.

“When it’s your music, it’s your song, it’s your voice,” Morris added.

“You have complete creative umbrage to voice any opinion.

It took me a few years to realise, ‘this is my music. I have to ultimately have the final say and that’s okay.’”

Morris gave Brown a cheque for $5,000 to jump start her music career.

“It’s all this very cool tapestry that you’re gonna look back on in a year or 10 years,” Morris told Brown.

“I don’t have any kids yet, but I want my kids to look at this industry in a very different way than I’ve had to look at it. I want them to see in hopefully less than 10 years everything is so much more balanced.”

Morris was named New Artist of the Year at the 50th CMA Awards in 2018.

She long ago joined fellow Arlington-born country singers Mickey Guyton and Melissa Lawson in the fastest growing genre and shook off shadows of Pantera predecessors.

Darrell was shot and killed on stage by a mentally unstable fan during a concert in Columbus, Ohio, on December 8, 2004 and Paul died of heart failure in 2018.

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BY SUSAN JARVIS

ONE OF DARREN COGGAN’S MOST CHERISHED MEMORIES IS GLANCING OVER TO THE SIDE OF STAGE AND SEEING THE LEGENDARY GLEN CAMPBELL IN THE WINGS, WATCHING HIM PERFORM.

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arren said “It just blew me away – here was this incredible musician and performer, who I’d idolised my whole life, watching me sing my songs.”

That was back in 1992, when young Darren was still a relative newcomer to the musical scene.

He’d just taken out the Toyota Star Maker competition and then scooped the jackpot: an invitation to tour with Glen Campbell on his Australian tour.

“That alone was amazing – apart from the chance to play in front of some huge crowds, I got to see the way he could have the audience in the palm of his hand in just moments. He was absolutely incredible as a performer and off the charts as a musician,” Darren said.

“But getting to know Glen was even more special. I’d been warned that he might not want to have much to do with me, but that was completely wrong. He’d stand in the wings every night, watch my set and give me advice.

When Glen passed away at the age of 81, after a courageous battle with Alzheimer’s disease, Darren’s thoughts inevitably turned to his own time with Glen two decades earlier.

“Those memories have always been very special to me, and when Glen passed away I got out the old photos, and began to read the Rhinestone Cowboy book about his life,” Darren said.

“He left behind a huge legacy of music, and I felt that I could draw on those songs to build a show that would recognise his

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contribution and capture who he was.”

So now Darren’s returning the favour, paying tribute to Glen Campbell with his thoughtful, beautifully produced show Like A Rhinestone Cowboy, and a wonderful new album of the same name.

Over the past quarter of a century Darren’s combined myriad talents to build an impressive career that has spanned musical theatre and his own wonderful production shows.

For a start, he’s released five critically acclaimed albums of his own and won two Golden Guitars, along with numerous other awards.

He’s had starring roles as Teen Angel and Vince Fontaine in Grease: The Mega Musical, Richie Cunningham in Happy Days: The Arena Mega-Musical, Col Joye in Shout and Dad in John Williamson’s Quambatook.

He’s also created the hugely successful Peace Train, which pays tribute to Cat Stevens, and has seen him sell out numerous shows at the Sydney Opera House, along with major venues in virtually every capital city in Australia and across the United Kingdom.

Most recently, he’s written and presented a tribute to James Taylor, which has been rapturously received by audiences.

So he was perfectly placed to craft a new show about Glen Campbell – and he knew just where to start when it came to creating Like A Rhinestone Cowboy.

“The songs Glen left behind – many of them written by the amazing Jimmy Webb – were such an obvious starting point,” Darren said.

“Then it was just a matter of finding stories that would tie the songs together. I’ve taken anecdotes from his life, and also used my own memories of meeting and performing with him. I really love making those connections.

“If Glen Campbell had never sung a song in his life, he’d have been remembered as an extraordinary musician. He was part of The Wrecking Crew and before he became a solo artist, he played on some of the biggest hit records from people like Elvis, Frank Sinatra, the Beach Boys and the Righteous Brothers.

“And if he didn’t pick up an instrument, he’d have been remembered as one of the most amazing interpreters of songs. He had a beautiful, high tenor voice – I set myself a hard task to do justice to his songs.”

The show – and the album that Darren’s just released to capture the show for his many fans – features many

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“THOSE MEMORIES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN VERY SPECIAL TO ME, AND WHEN GLEN PASSED AWAY I GOT OUT THE OLD PHOTOS, AND BEGAN TO READ THE RHINESTONE COWBOY BOOK ABOUT HIS LIFE.”

of Glen Campbell’s biggest hits, including Rhinestone Cowboy, Galveston, By The Time I Get To Phoenix, Little Green Apples and Wichita Lineman.

The album begins with a very cute moment: Darren Coggan, aged 6, performing Rhinestone Cowboy in the lounge room of his family home.

He then launches into the title track, and the listener is swept away into an amazing collection of songs.

Darren’s joined by fellow Wagga Wagga singer Meredith Adams for a beautiful version of Gentle On My Mind, inspired by the duet Glen performed with Bobbie Gentry.

Other highlights are a heartfelt version of The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, accompanied in the live show by the story of the thenscandalous relationship between Glen

years of bringing you the music 1975–2019

HONOURING A LEGEND Campbell and Tanya Tucker, and Darren’s fabulous rendition of True Grit, the theme song of the movie in which Glen starred with John Wayne.

After tracks like If These Walls Could Speak, Where’s The Playground, Suzie?, It’s Only Make Believe and Let It Be Me, the album concludes with two live performances from the show, Try A Little Kindness and Bonaparte’s Retreat.

The show was launched at this year’s Tamworth Festival, and was a sell-out. Darren’s now performing it up and down the east coast of Australia, and plans on taking it to as many parts of Australia as possible this year.

This month he’ll be around the NSW Central Coast and South Coast (Wollongong and Nowra) and will then head to Queensland for a run of dates.

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Everywhere he performs the crowds come out in force and give him standing ovations – much as they’ve done ever since he began presenting his Peace Train show.

Darren shakes his head and smiles when he looks back over his career.

“When I won Star Maker, I really didn’t expect any of this to unfold the way it has, but I’ve loved every moment – it has been a matter of seizing opportunities and rolling with them,” Darren said.

“At the same time, I’ve always approached everything I’ve done with the attitude that I had to get it right and, particularly when I’m

presenting another artist’s music, to do it with respect for them and what they’ve achieved.”

Last year, Darren’s Peace Train took the United Kingdom by storm, and he says he’d love to return with that show, and then perhaps to take Like A Rhinestone Cowboy to the British public.

He’s also begun work on his next original album.

“I’ve written some songs and the album is in the planning stages. I’m hoping to go into the studio to record in the latter part of this year,” Darren said.

“Because of the Peace Train and Rhinestone Cowboy shows, I’ve been lucky enough to reach a whole new audience, and I just love it when they then get excited about my own music as well.

Meanwhile, Darren will be singing his heart out across the country in memory of the great Glen Campbell in Like A Rhinestone Cowboy.

If you can’t make it to a live show, the album is also available from his website, darrencoggan.com

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BY HALEY SHERIDAN

C

atherine and Lizzy Ward Thomas were on tour with British singer-songwriter David Gray and among their highlights from their quick journey was a performance to packed crowds at Byron Bay’s Bluesfest.

It was a whirlwind journey for the twins, who shared their excitement with Country Music Capital News while waiting for their flight home at the airport.

“It’s been amazing and very interesting, we’ve toured a lot but never ventured this far afield,” Catherine said.

“It was a special experience for us, people bought lots of albums and we met lots of people.”

“It’s amazing, literally we get to come here for work,” Lizzy said.

“We are still hyped from Bluesfest, it is surreal and we can’t believe we are going home already.”

The sisters say they received their first taste of Australian country music culture when they performed at a CMC Rocks event two years ago.

While there’s similarities between Australian country music and the likes of the United Kingdom’s country music scene, Lizzy says Australia does set the bar high.

“It’s eye-opening how big it is,” she said.

“We (in the UK) are still very much behind the Australian country scene, but it has grown dramatically in the UK. “If you go to the C2C festival,

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WITH A NEW RELEASE IN TOW, TACKLING THE ISSUES THAT PLAGUE YOUNG MINDS, UK SISTER DUO WARD THOMAS LEFT AUSTRALIAN COUNTRY FANS WANTING MORE. “BEFORE WHEN WE WERE YOUNG GIRLS WE WERE NAÏVE AND DIDN’T WANT TO OFFEND ANYONE, AND NOW WE HAVE A MORE ARTISTIC VISION.

and see the amount of audiences turning up it is bigger every year and there is a lot more of an appreciation.”

Ward Thomas released their new album Restless Minds in February which, they say, is a collection of songs drawn from topics they believe are important to their age bracket and the modern world.

Tackling issues, such as social media and mental health; the young stars have delivered an album of songs that resonate with modern society and it is something they both say they’re very proud of.

The release came off the back of the smash hit album Cartwheels, which was the first album from a British country act to reach number on the UK Albums Chart.

But they are quick to tell you the albums are both special in their own way.

“We put a lot of work into the album and spent a long time trying to get it right… it took longer than planned,” Catherine said.

“It’s gone down really well, we are happy with it and people have responded to it well, about what they’ve been going through.

“We were re-doing vocals a lot and spent time doing guitar parts and drum parts, all the nitty gritty parts and we worked hard with the producers to make sure it was a different album for us.

“It was a very different process in so many ways and there were very specific topics we wanted to talk about at any session, being a millennial living in the social media age or looking at mental health in recent years.

“We felt this was more of a vision of an album in one.”

Lizzy says Restless Minds marked a period of growth beyond Cartwheels.

“Whenever we release an album you never know what

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the response is going to be,” she said.

“This is probably our favourite album, we have put the most work into it and shown a real vulnerable side; it’s quite scary releasing it out to the world and it’s an eye opening thing.

“The albums are completely different in themselves, they are our own babies.

“Cartwheels will always be there and we will always cherish it and will never forget how it got to number one.

“It automatically puts a higher pressure on writing an album to come after that and that’s why we really wanted to take our time and produce something different.

“This album was a lot more challenging but we met more musicians, wrote with a lot more songwriters and learnt from them as well.

“It was so fun to be able to have an opportunity to learn from these amazing people.”

With a trip Down Under done and dusted, the duo says they’re planning for a busy remainder of 2019 ahead.

While the weather might be cooling down in Australia, Ward Thomas are gearing up for the summer festival season in the UK and Europe.

“We are going home and then are on a European Tour, our first proper one, supporting Jack Savoretti,” Lizzy said.

“That’s the next big thing, then we have the summer festivals coming in the UK. “We have been touring since February, so after that it could be more writing.”

But no matter what comes after the UK summer, Catherine says the girls are still looking forward to learning and growing together, with only good things to come from Ward Thomas in the future.

“We are feeling more confident to have a voice,” she said.

“Before when we were young girls we were naïve and didn’t want to offend anyone, and now we have a more artistic vision.

“It’s a natural ripple effect.”

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MUSIC FOR THE MODERN WORLD years of bringing you the music 1975â&#x20AC;&#x201C;2019

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IRISH BOOTS FIRMLY PLANTED IN BRITISH SOIL

BY JON WOLFE

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ary is an Irish-born country music singersongwriter who lives in Manchester and has a string of top British country music awards under his country buckle, and his boots are firmly planted in the musical storytelling soil ploughed by his influences Kris Kristofferson, Garth Brooks and Brad Paisley.

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BACK IN JANUARY, TAMWORTH COUNTRY MUSIC FESTIVAL-GOERS WERE TREATED TO A NUMBER OF SHOWS PRESENTED UNDER THE BANNER OF MANCHESTER, ENGLAND’S BUCKLE AND BOOTS FESTIVAL AND THE SINGULAR TALENTS OF GARY QUINN. Gary said growing up in Ireland, his mother’s side of the family was quite musical.

“My father used to listen to Kris Kristofferson tapes and I fell in love with his storytelling,” Gary said, “and then graduated to Garth, Brad and Keith Urban.

“Irish music was to me a little dated and I always looked to American country, and I always had a focus on the storytelling, the narrative.”

Gary would perform at family gatherings, was writing songs at 18 years of age, and he worked in the field of health before he turned 25 and turned to singing and

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performing as his true profession.

“For a musician it seems to be a hobby at first, a passion, and then it becomes something you want to pursue,’ he said.

Gary released his debut, self-titled album in 2013 and almost immediately earned a British Country Music Award for UK song of the year with his own composition He Don’t Show Her Anymore. He followed that up in 2014 with another song of the year award for The Power Of Me And You and also picked up the trophy

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“IRISH MUSIC

for songwriter of the year.

Romance and marriage saw him re-locate to Manchester and he said “I suppose love anchored me here in the UK. “My ex and I got married nine years ago and had two lovely children and I can’t stay away from them for too long, they’re too important to me.”

Gary and his band have

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performed at one of Europe’s most prestigious country festivals, Country2Country in London on WAS TO ME A numerous occasions, The Long Road Festival and Manchester’s Buckle & LITTLE DATED Boots Festival, as well as festivals the length and breadth of the UK and AND I ALWAYS Europe.

A regular performer at the Belfast Nashville Songwriters Festival, he LOOKED TO has performed alongside Nashville recording artists Carlene Carter, John AMERICAN Brannen and Nanci Griffith, as well as opening for a CMA Songwriter COUNTRY, Series show that included Clint Black and Bill Anderson. He is no stranger AND I ALWAYS to performing in Nashville, having played the CMA Music Fest and the CMA Global Artist Party at iconic HAD A FOCUS venue The Stage on Broadway.

Gary has played support slots for ON THE touring US artists Collin Raye, Larry Gatlin, Will Hoge, Aaron Watson, STORYTELLING, Wade Bowen and Gene Watson.

He continued his award winning ways in 2016 with his first British THE Country Music Association win for male singer of the year and he can NARRATIVE.” now be seen regularly on TV with his videos receiving airtime on regional and international TV programs.

In 2016 he released an EP of five songs called I Remember, featuring the song Shame which debuted at #7 in the UK iTunes country chart and in 2017 he won his second British Country Music Association male singer of the year award.

Gary said country music is more readily accepted now in the UK, whereas before it had a ‘Country and Western’ stigma attached to it.

“There’s an appetite for the new country,” he said. “The millennials are streaming it a lot more without realising that it is country music.

“We’ve got some successful country acts now, like The Shires and Ward Thomas who are making good moves like placing #1 on the general charts, not just country charts.

“It’s given country artists like myself a better platform – it’s cool to be country now, where maybe five, six years ago it was still a bit of a bad word in the media sense.”

The trip to Australia with the Buckle and Boots troupe earlier this year showcased many of the artists that have made that festival a major success on the UK country scene and Gary has been a part of it since it began four years ago.

“I was a co-founder of that festival after meeting with Karl Hancock and his family who run it on their land,” Gary said.

He performed in Brisbane, Toowoomba, Twin Towns, and also Tamworth, where he played on the huge International Stage at Toyota Park.

“The Tamworth Country Music Festival was such a great experience, which I’d certainly love to do annually,” he said.

Gary also recently took part in Country On The Clyde and is looking forward to taking the stage at Buckle & Boots and Dixie Fields Festivals later this year.

Gary has made a number of visits to Nashville, and they have given him the chance to score one of the highlights of his career - writing a couple of songs with US country star Steve Wariner – Tainted and Warm Dark Of Night -and they are part of his last album, The Lounge Recordings.

“We met a couple of years ago at the British Country Music Awards,” Gary said. “We wrote the songs in his studio in Franklin, he’s a friend and a nice guy.”

A prolific songwriter himself, several trips to Nashville have allowed him to write with highly-regarded songwriting heavyweights, so Gary has a lot of fresh material that fans can look forward to.

Late last month he released a new single, Bumpin’ Into You, which he said has a different vibe to it.

“I wanted to put a more contemporary spin on this track and see how the listener reacts,” he said. “I’m very pleased with how it’s turned out.”

Fans will still recognise Gary’s undeniable talent when it comes to vocal delivery and songwriting prowess and he hopes that the new material will impress his loyal contingent, while introducing new listeners, both at home and in Australia, to his body of work.

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BY REBECCA BELT

THE RELEASE OF NEW MUSIC FROM NEWCASTLE COUNTRY ROCKERS, THE VIPER CREEK BAND, IS BEAUTIFUL MUSIC TO THE EARS OF THOSE WHO’VE WAITED NEARLY THREE YEARS FOR FRESH MATERIAL.

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eautiful Destruction heralds a slight change sonically for the band, but still has the trademark Viper Creek Band feel to it.

Released on March 1, music lovers lapped it up, with the album ​debuting at #1 on the iTunes Country Albums Charts, #13 on the iTunes All Genre Albums Chart and #5 on the ARIA Country Albums Chart and was the #1 Australian album on that chart.

The sound of the new album is eclectic covering everything from country, to more modern country pop/rock songs, through to tracks with a bluesy southern feel.

“The whole idea with this album was there were no rules,” Damien said.

“If we liked the song, it was going on, regardless of style. I think it works, even though we pushed the boundaries a little bit with this one; it still sounds like a Viper Creek record to me.”

Damien said the album reflected the way modern country music was evolving.

Beautiful Destruction s​ ees the Newcastle outfit stretch their musical wings with songs that encompass their ever-growing influences, but are still identifiable as The Viper Creek Band’s work.

Front man Damien Baguley said he and his band mates were particularly excited for this release because it had been so long between drinks and the album set them apart just that bit more.

“It feels like forever since the last album (Just Press Play),” he said.

“The songs show off our different influences, but I still think it’s got The Viper 22

FLAVOURS FUSE WITH MUSICAL TRADEMARK Creek Band stamp on it and people are digging it.”

Prior to the release of the album, the two singles, Green Light, and Australian Girls, both charted in the top 5 on the iTunes Country Songs Chart and enjoyed extensive airplay.

Green Light is about to tick over 700,000 streams on Spotify.

Green Light has an infectious lyric with the premise being a guy asking a girl to take their relationship to the next level, while Australian Girls is an upbeat tribute to strong Australian women and the roles they play in life.

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“As soon as I heard Green Light, I loved it straight away,” Damien said.

“It’s a bit of a departure from what we’ve done previously, but we loved the sexy kind of lyric with the premise of the song being a guy asking the girl to give him the green light to take their relationship to the next level. I love the great, modern country vibe that it has.”

One of the criteria that each track had to meet to make the cut for the album was that it would be embraced by live audiences, and Green Light ticked all the boxes with its infectious lyrics and a beat that’s impossible not to dance to.

Australian Girls stemmed from a writing session with fellow artists Travis Collins and Matt Scullion, who brought the title to the table.

“Travis and I had wanted to write together for ages and finally did it late in 2018 with Australian Girls being one of the last songs that we wrote for the album,” he said. years of bringing you the music 1975–2019

The Newcastle singer-songwriter, formerly of Narrabri, said he’d never felt overly comfortable with songs about Australia and had steered clear of them, but this song came naturally.

“This is a tribute to Australian women, so it wasn’t forced,” he said. “It’s my wife’s favourite song on the album.

“It shows a different side to the band because it’s a different subject than we’ve tackled before, and in a different way. I’ve had a lot of strong women role models from my wife to my mother to my mother-inlaw and grandmothers and they all played a big role in my life so it’s a tribute to them as well.”

Other highlights include Tired from the pens of Damien, Brennin Hunt and Skip Black, who also wrote Green Light. Tired has a John Mayer feel to it, a chilled vibe in the verses and getting manic in the chorus, with the singer telling his girl that he is tired years of bringing you the music 1975–2019

of everything in his life except for her.

The Shane McAnallypenned Blue Jean Jacket is about lost love and reminiscing about a former flame and is one of Damien’s favourites.

Beautiful Destruction contains some slower ballads and songs reminiscent of not only John Mayer, but also The Eagles with touches of pop music.

Damien co-wrote four of the 10 songs with Nashville writers as well as Australian artists including Travis and Matt.

“I just hope listeners don’t want to skip any songs,” he said.

“I think every song has its place and that they want to listen to the whole thing because, as an album, there are a lot of different flavours.”

The Viper Creek Band has hit the road since the release with a new show to reflect the new songs, bringing Beautiful Destruction alive.

“We’ve built our new live shows with these songs,” Damien said.

“We are really excited about playing all these songs from the album and to give our supporters something new. Our goals are all about the live show - when we’re choosing songs, we think about how’s this going to fit in our set.”

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SAVOURING EVERY PRECIOUS MOMENT

BY ANNA ROSE

DID YOU HEAR THE ONE ABOUT THE RHYMING RASCAL WHO WOKE UP ONE DAY AND COULDN’T READ?

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o joke. It changed his life forever.

Central Coastbased plumbing, firefighting bush poet Dave Proust (aka Prousty) made that discovery one Monday morning about 12 months ago. He didn’t know if he’d had a stroke overnight or what had gone down, but immediately went to the doctor for a barrage of tests.

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Five weeks later, following an MRI, Prousty got a phone call saying Dr Cook wanted to see him and to bring his wife, Therese.

“I decided not to take her because I knew then it would be horrendous news. It was a shit of a day. I’d been to a funeral, got that message, seen my solicitor and went to the doctor’s and asked Debra straight up what I had.

“She started welling up. Debra’s been my doctor for 30 years. It was a bit bizarre, but I gave her a hug because she started to cry.

“I left there and went to my mum’s. She

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was dying of oesophagus cancer and only had weeks to live. My brother looked at my face and knew something wasn’t right.

“I told him I had a brain tumour, then told my sister.

Telling Therese was tough but she made it easy as she was really strong for me. When my younger brother Andy arrived, he just fell apart and started crying.

“Mum wanted to know what was going on so I told her I had good news and bad news. The good news was I didn’t have a stroke, but the bad news was I did have a brain tumour.

“She looked at me and said: ‘Oh no, what does that mean?’. I said: ‘It will be a race between you and me who goes first.’ And mum said: ‘I hope I win.’ What a bloody champion.”

So how do you tell your six children you’re going to die?

“We called an emergency family dinner, with the six kids, four in-law kids, 10 grandchildren, we had 22 for tea.

“At first the boys thought I was joking, but Therese told them I wasn’t. The kids knew I’d much prefer to laugh

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Opposite: Dave and Therese – the Proustys Left: In happier days Above: Prousty in hospital

about something like that, so my youngest bloke said: ‘Dad, can I have your truck?’ and the boys all started arguing about who would get the truck. It was quite amusing.

“The second oldest boy said to the oldest: ‘What do you think the house is worth?’ and Therese chipped in and reminded them she was still here. ‘That’s okay, mum,’ they said.

‘There’s a room next to pop in the nursing home. You’ll be right. So instead of being sad, horrible and depressed, we handled it the funny way.”

One of the hardest things Dave and Therese ever had to do was say goodbye to his mum when they left for Sydney so he could undergo surgery.

“I had to tell mum I’d be in Sydney for a week, so it could be the last time I saw her. I gave mum a hug and a kiss and my brothers and my sister just lost it. Mum and I held it

years of bringing you the music 1975–2019

together.

“As it was, we were in Sydney a week I had the operation and was officially diagnosed with a grade 4 glioblastoma brain tumour. When we got back, mum said: ‘Sorry, but I’m still here.’ She lasted six more days. My brothers and I and three eldest grandsons carried her. Then a week after we buried mum, mum’s brother died, my godfather.

“A week later at his funeral, my brothers and I carried the box.

Then five weeks later, Aunty Pat died, all within eight weeks.”

The doctors advised that chemotherapy works best if you eat good food and refrain from drinking alcohol.

After drinking 14 stubbies at his mum’s wake, Prousty rocked up to the doctor’s looking pretty worse for wear.

“I told him it wasn’t the medication or the treatment, but that my mum had died. Two weeks later I went to see him again looking worse for wear and he jokingly asked: ‘Who died this time?’

“When I told him it was Uncle Peter, my godfather, the doc didn’t believe I could possibly have had another funeral to contend with. Then six weeks later, Aunty Pat. I had three huge drinks during chemo.”

Like most people, Dave and Therese knew nothing about brain cancer until it happened to them.

“The more I worry, the more I might make the bastard grow, but talking about it helps. It lets it out.

“Being a fireman, firefighters are more susceptible to cancer than the general population. These days we use breathing apparatus and protective clothing, which is a lot better now than it was 27 years ago when I first started.

“After a fire I would have a shower, get into civvies and go home when I walked in the door Therese could always

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The Proust clan – Luke, Monique, Therese, Tony, Dave, Peter, Danielle and Jim.

smell the fire on me, it just permeates through your body, through your skin.

“In the ’60s there were a lot more natural fibres in the home – in lounges, carpets, timber. If a fire started in a house in the loungeroom it would take 20 minutes for the room to become fully involved.

“These days, with all the synthetic materials around, it would be fully involved in three to five minutes.

“I’m fortunate the NSW Fire Brigade has now covered this under workers’ compensation. I was on sick leave, and am now on workers’ comp. I officially leave the fire brigade on June 24 and will become a retired chap.

“A neurosurgeon assessed my loss of brain function and said while my memory was OK, I could remember poems, but I’d struggle to remember new things.

“Therese says it’s like living with someone with Alzheimer’s. Mind you, this experience has given me a heap of new material for my routine … if only I could remember it!”

Life changed forever not only for Dave, but for Therese, who 12 months later can’t believe she’s an active fundraiser for the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation. (Their combined tally is now close to $20,000).

Up until Dave’s diagnosis, Therese had been an optical dispenser four days a week and caring for her grandkids on days off. Once they were faced with the brain tumour news, Therese chose to leave her job so she could spend time with Prousty.

Therese was recently told by one of the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation people she was their “four-star bottle seller”. During the 2019 Tamworth Country Music Festival, she sold cartons and cartons of water bottles bearing the foundation’s logo, with all proceeds directed towards researching this insidious disease.

“It’s kind of a weird feeling. You feel like you can’t do anything for the person who’s not well, but you can do something that might help him or others at some point,” Therese said.

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“Research is vital. We just want someone to find a bloody cure.

“At times I feel overwhelmed and sad but having said that, we have a lot of good support. It’s all part of that grieving process for your old life. With that diagnosis, our lives were completely changed.”

Despite the diagnosis hanging over their heads, neither knows how much time Dave has left. They are both just being. Living. Loving.

Laughing. Enjoying each moment.

When Capital News spoke to Dave and Therese, they’d just caught a plane to Melbourne and Dave had driven them to Geelong for a family reunion on Therese’s side.

“He looks as well as any bloke out there. His attitude is amazing.

He amazes me every day. No one would know there was anything amiss until they talked to him for a while,” Therese said.

With everything going on in their lives, Therese has found another career – on the stage.

“He made me do it. I think he’s turned me into a monster.

It’s an amazing experience to make people laugh and now I understand his passion for it,” she said.

“At his 40th, 20 years ago this year, I had to get my girlfriend to speak on my behalf. Now I’ve got

so much to say. The first time we did The Love Poem in Tamworth, I was shaking so hard, I thought the people in the front row would end up with me in their lap.

“I still get nervous, but what we do with the TV show (What’s Up Down Under), as soon as the camera comes in front of me, I try to think about what I want to say.

“Dave’s always there, encouraging me. You can do this. Try this. Say that. Do this. Then I do end up saying it. I did 10 minutes on my own in Tamworth this year and I was nearly sick beforehand. It was pretty intense.

“When I told my boss they’d need to replace me, he thought I’d change my mind, and things would settle down after a couple of weeks.

“I want to be able to do anything with Dave. He functions very well. I know he’s changed but I just want to be around him.

“We don’t spend every waking moment together but it’s good to pick up and just go, without having to ask someone for time off. I need to be able to do that.

“Money’s no value to you if you’re going to spend it on your own. If we spend it all, I can go and live with the kids!”

Their children are precious – with the two eldest girls, Monique, 38 and Danielle, 36; then there’s Luke 34, Tony 33, Jimmy 29, and Pete 27.

“In the beginning it was really tough. We had people dying around us. The day Dave was diagnosed, his mum had the last rites.

“His uncle Peter came to visit grandma and there were 40 people at the house. She had 14 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren, so it was like a big party.

“Then we had to say goodbye to her on the Tuesday, which was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. My mum passed away when I was 20. Denise didn’t try to take on the role of my mum, but she was always there for me.

“Our kids, grandchildren, nieces and nephews where all watching grandma as she became unconscious, and then finally passed away at home, and I knew they where thinking this is going to be dad, Grampy, Unk. There is no doubt this was a really really tough and emotional time for our whole family.

“A year later, we’re still going strong. We can cope with this. Dave has told his story to the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation and they’re launching their latest campaign, based around his story.

“We can do this.”

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BILLY RAY THROWS WEIGHT BEHIND DEBATE WHILE BILLY RAY CYRUS SHARES THE #1 SONG ON ALL MUSIC STREAMING PLATFORMS WORLDWIDE WITH THE REMIX OF LIL NAS X’S OLD TOWN ROAD, CYRUS IS EQUALLY EXCITED ABOUT THE RELEASE OF HIS LONG-PLANNED ALBUM, THE SNAKEDOCTOR CIRCUS.

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yrus and BMG planned to release the concept record on May 24 long before the phenomenon of Old Town Road.

“Life is a series of adjustments. I’ve been working on this album, The SnakeDoctor Circus, for more than two years now. In January this year, my label, BMG, had planned and scheduled the release of this album May 24. Twenty-seven days ago, I heard a song from Lil Nas X and felt the injustice of the way he was being treated. You just don’t pull the rug out from under someone like that.

He impacted a worldwide psyche and touched a universal harmony. That’s when I made the adjustment in my schedule, went to the studio, wrote a new verse and sang on Old Town Road with Lil Nas X,” said Cyrus.

Old Town Road by Lil Nas X mixes elements of hip-hop and country music and reached #19 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs but was pulled from the chart as it did not “embrace enough elements of today’s country music”.

Cyrus said there was no doubt the song was country and western.

“I was thinking, what’s not country about it? What’s the

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rudimentary element of a c&w song? Then I thought, it’s honest, humble, and has an infectious hook, and a banjo. What the hell more do ya need?”

Cyrus recorded The SnakeDoctor Circus in Muscle Shoals, Alabama with some of the most respected musicians, including Cyrus’ longtime collaborator and songwriting mentor, Don Von Tress, Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Dewey Lyndon “Spooner” Oldham (piano), Nashville Musician’s Hall of Fame Member Will McFarlane, as well as David Hood (bass guitar), Kelvin Holly (electric/ acoustic/bass guitar), Bekka Bramlett (vocals, tambourine), Kimi Samson (violin, viola, piano), Caleb Elliott (cello), Will McFarlane (electric guitar), James LeBlanc (electric guitar), Mike “Dillon” Curington (drums), John Brannen (acoustic guitar, harmonica), Shonna Tucker (bass guitar), Angela Hacker (vocals), Larry Byrom (piano), Mick Utley (piano), Johnny

Monteagle (drums, baritone sax, synth) and Jimmy Nutt (acoustic/ electric guitars, tambourine, percussion).

Nutt, a Grammy®-winning recording engineer, also mixed The SnakeDoctor Circus.

It’s a full circle moment for Cyrus because Von Tress wrote the multi-platinum smash Achy Breaky Heart on Cyrus’ recordbreaking debut album Some Gave All. Cyrus penned Some Gave All about a Vietnam veteran in 1989 only to meet Von Tress, whom is also a Vietnam veteran, a few years later. The collaboration between the two songwriting titans more than 25 years ago continues with new music on The SnakeDoctor Circus.

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** ALBUM PREVIEW *GUEST OF ADAM ECKERSLEY & BROOKE MCCLYMONT MAY 3 BELMORE HOTEL, SCONE NSW MAY 10 BIG COUNTRY FESTIVAL, BERRY NSW MAY 16 THE CHURCH BAR, WINDSOR NSW** MAY 17 BAGO TAVERN, WAUCHOPE NSW** MAY 24&25 BUCKLE & BOOTS FESTIVAL, MANCHESTER UK JUNE 3 CHRIS WATSON TRAVEL EXCLUSIVE EVENT, NASHVILLE, TN JULY 13 *ALBUM LAUNCH HATS OFF TO COUNTRY – MOONSHINERS, FAMILY HOTEL, NSW JULY 26-28 GROUNDWATER CMF, BROADBEACH QLD PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY

ORGANISED BY

HAIR DESIGN & MAKE UP

STARMAKER.COM.AU 28

C O U N T RY M U S I C C A P I TA L N E W S M AY 2 0 1 9

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BLAKEOCONNORMUSIC.COM.AU years of bringing you the music 1975–2019

40TH TOYOTA STAR MAKER | BLAKE O’CONNOR

TOURING IS TOPS

Site seeing in Narrandera

Jand’s Kyle O’Hare presenting Blake with his Shure products

Bogans in Nyngan

Lindsay Waddington congratulated Blake on his win gifting him a cash prize from Kross Kut Records

I’VE BEEN SO FORTUNATE TO BE ON TOUR OVER THE PAST MONTH WITH ADAM ECKERSLEY & BROOKE MCCLYMONT.

E

arly last month, I headed out to western NSW as support artist on Adam’s & Brooke’s Highway Sky tour with the first show in the wonderful Bogan Shire town of Nyngan, on a busy Friday night.

We then headed off to West Wyalong where the twin towns of Wyalong and West Wyalong were celebrating their 125th anniversary. We played at the Services & Citizens Club and had a great night.

I then went to Dubbo to visit my grandparents and then caught a plane to Brisbane for some R&R. I went to see John Mayer in concert. Gee, what a great musician and it was an awesome show.

After spending most of that week in Brisbane and Noosa, I flew to Newcastle to open Adam’s & Brooke’s sold out show at Mannering Park. I got a huge surprise when a couple of school mates, who are now at university in Newcastle, came to the show to watch me for the first time in a while. Uni-students! They got their car bogged in the car park but lucky for “muso” smarts or theyʼd still be there haha!

I spent the next couple weeks on tour experiencing

years of bringing you the music 1975–2019

Adam’s and Brooke’s sold-out shows in Narrandera, Orange, Windsor and Raymond Terrace. It was so great and I met some nice people along the way.

As winner of Toyota Star Maker I won some awesome prizes and one of them was from JANDS who hooked me up with some Shure products. I visited the Sydney site and met some of the great people there. Thanks heaps for your support.

After the Raymond Terrace show I headed to Sydney to watch the Marcus King Band live and they were awesome, two hours of intense jams!

I love watching live music as it gives me an opportunity to learn from their performances.

There are a lot of cool prizes

when you win Star Maker but not all of them had been revealed when I first won, including a cash gift from industry professionals Lindsay Waddington and his wife Reegan from KrossKut Records. Star Maker and I was blown away with their generosity. They said that they really loved some of the artists that Star Maker was uncovering and wanted to get involved by giving back to up-and-coming artists. I’m so glad they picked me. Lindsay has been playing guitar for years and has produced over 100 albums which is unbelievable when you think about it. Thank you so much.

I’m getting really excited about a couple of ticketed shows coming up to preview my album set for release in July.

I hope you can come along to either my birth place of Windsor to the Church Bar on May 16, or to the Bago Tavern in Wauchope on May 17 near my home town of Port Macquarie.

Cheers Blake

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years of bringing you the music 1975â&#x20AC;&#x201C;2019

LIVE MUSIC SCENE

LIFT OUT

Please note all show venues & times are correct at time of printing. Capital News recommends you check with the venue prior to attending.

Tweed Heads NSW 18 Wandilla Station, Eulo Qld JUNE 29 Carnarvon Civic Centre WA

ALEXIS AND SUZIE

ADAM BRAND JUNE 1 Mullewa Recreation Grounds WA

MAY 9 Drift Bar, Caloundra Qld 10 Caloundra RSL Qld 11 Waterfront Hotel, Maroochydore Qld 17 Caloundra RSL Qld 18 Brothers Leagues Club, Bundaberg Qld 23 Drift Bar, Caloundra Qld 24 Sunshine FM 104.9, Buderim Qld 25 Nambour RSL, Nambour Qld 29 Drift Bar, Caloundra Qld

ALEXIS SAWFORD

ADAM ECKERSLEY & BROOKE MCCLYMONT *with guest 2019 Toyota Star Maker Blake O’Connor MAY 3 Belmore Hotel, Scone NSW* 8 Maclean Showground NSW*

ADAM HARVEY MAY 4 Norths Leagues & SC, Kallangur Qld 5 Tewantin Noosa RSL Qld 10 Gateway Hotel, Corio Vic 11 York on Lilydale, Mount Evelyn Vic 17 Twin Towns Club and Resorts, years of bringing you the music 1975–2019

MAY 4 Montville Bar and Grill Qld 12 Coffee Cat on Kings, Kings Beach Qld 12 Pelican Waters Tavern, Caloundra Qld 17 Coffee Cat on Kings, Kings Beach Qld 24 Bluff Bar Alexandra Headland Surf Club, Maroochydore Qld 26 Coffee Cat on Kings, Caloundra Qld 26 Rivershore Resort, Maroochydore Qld

AMBER LAWRENCE MAY 11 Private Lawn Party, Helensvale Qld 12 Johnny Ringo’s Brisbane, Brisbane Qld 24 Malanda RSL Qld 31 Casey Radio, Cranbourne Vic JUNE 13 Robertson Public House NSW 14 Canberra Harmonie German Club, Narrabundah ACT 15 Rooty Hill RSL NSW 21 Laurieton United SC NSW 22 Sawtell RSL NSW 23 Coutts Crossing Coronation Hall NSW

ANGELA EASSON MAY 19 The Surf Club Mooloolaba Qld JUNE 08 Bribie Island RSL Qld 09 The Surf Club Mooloolaba Qld 16 Taps Mooloolaba Qld JULY 4-7 Twin Towns Services Club, Tweed Heads NSW

BLAKE O’CONNOR *Guest of Adam Eckersley & Brooke McClymont MAY 3 Belmore Hotel, Scone NSW 10 Big Country Festival, Campers Ground, Berry NSW 16 The Church Bar, WIndsor NSW 17 BAGO Tavern, Wauchope NSW 24&25 Buckle & Boots Festival, Manchester UK JUNE 3 Chris Watson Travel Exclusive Event, Nashville, TN JULY *Album Launch Hats Off To Country 13 Moonshiners, Family Hotel, NSW

BRETT ELDREDGE MAY 2 The Forum, Melbourne Vic

CHRISTIE LAMB MAY 11 Big Country Festival Berry NSW 20 Norfolk Island Festival 30 Saraton Theatre Grafton NSW 31 Cex Club, Coffs Harbour NSW JUNE 1 Club Forster NSW 2 Glasshouse Theatre, Port

Macquarie NSW 13 Horsham Town Hall Vic 14 Swan Hill Town Hall Vic 15 Riverlinks Eastbank, Shepparton Vic 20 Yoogali Club, Griffith NSW 21 Wagga Wagga Civic Theatre NSW 22 Albury EC NSW AUGUST 11 Central Coast CMF NSW 15 Mandurah PAC WA 16 Crown Theatre Perth WA 17 Bunbury Regional EC WA 22 Brolga Theatre, Maryborough Qld 23 Moncreiff EC, Bundaberg Qld 24 The Great Western Hotel, Rockhampton Qld 29 Cairns PAC Qld 30 Townsville EC Qld 31 Mackay EC Qld

DALE HOOPER JUNE 7 Bathurst RSL Club NSW 8 Macquarie Inn, Dubbo NSW

DANI YOUNG MAY 17 Mantra Studio Kitchen and Bar, Yarraville Vic 19 The Fat Goat, Upwey Vic

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DARREN COGGAN MAY 10 Lizottes, Newcastle NSW 11 The Arthouse, Wyong NSW 17 Centro CBD, Wollongong NSW 18 Shoalhaven EC, Nowra NSW 31 Glen Street Theatre, Belrose NSW JUNE 6 Empire Church Theatre, Toowoomba Qld 7 The Events Centre, Caloundra Qld 8 Redland PAC, Cleveland Qld

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»

LIVE MUSIC SCENE DESTINY BAND OZ MAY 05 Arc Centre, Yinnar Vic JUNE 28 The Morwell Club Vic JULY 07 Bayview Homestead, Bittern Vic

DIANNE LINDSAY MAY 11 Capella Equestrian Centre Qld 24 Barham Services Club NSW

FELICITY URQUHART MAY 3 The Chook Shed, Main Pavilion, Clare Showground SA 4 The Boatshed, Wallaroo SA 5 Corny Point Hall SA 19 Caravan Music Club, East Bentleigh Vic 25 The Music Lounge, Wollongong NSW 31 Hardys Bay Community Club NSW JUNE 1 The Masters Builders Club, Dee Why NSW 20 Corowa RSL NSW JULY 13 The Pub, Tamworth, NSW 19 Milton Theatre, Milton, NSW

18 Norfolk Island, Kingston JUNE 12 Can You Keep a Secret?, Woolloongabba Qld

HILLBILLY GOATS MAY 3 Wintermoon Festival, Calen Qld 7 The Leap Hotel, Mackay, Qld 10 Palm Cove Surf Club Qld 11 Yungaburra Pub Qld 18 Wandilla Station, Eulo Qld 24 Toowoomba City GC Qld 25 Imperial Hotel, Eumundi Qld 31 Gympie RSL Qld JUNE 2 The Bearded Dragon, Tamborine Qld 15 Kilkivan Bush Camp Qld 29 Casino RSM NSW JULY 5 Seabreeze Resort, Mackay Qld 13 Beerwah Hotel, Qld 20 Pullenvale Folk Festival, Brisbane Qld

JUNE 7 Hervey Bay RSL & Services Memorial Club Qld 8 Grand Hotel, Gayndah Qld 21 Toowoomba Showgrounds, Glenvale Qld JULY 13 Seagulls Club, Tweed Heads NSW 28 Laura CMF SA AUGUST 2 Mittagong RSL NSW 16 Dubbo RSL Club NSW 17 Condobolin RSL Club NSW 23 Amstel GC, Cranbourne Vic SEPTEMBER 14 Nanango RSL Qld 18 Wagga Wagga Civic Theatre NSW

1 Belmont 16s NSW 8&9 John Williamson LIVE in the Hinterland Qld JULY 5 Shoalhaven EC, Nowra NSW 6 Sutherland EC NSW 7 Wenty LC, Wentworthville NSW SEPTEMBER 5 The Events Centre, Caloundra Qld 6 Brolga Theatre & Convention Centre, Maryborough Qld 7 Moncrieff Ent Centre, Bundaberg Qld NOVEMBER 21 Bairnsdale RSL Club Vic 22 West Gippsland Arts Centre, Warragul Vic 23 Frankston Arts Centre Vic

JAYNE DENHAM

JOHNNY GREENWOOD

MAY 18 Wandilla Station, Eulo Qld

MAY 24-26 Barham & District SM Club NSW

GRAEME CONNORS JUNE 7 Brolga Theatre and Convention Centre, Maryborough Qld 8 Gladstone ECC Qld 14 Pilbeam Theatre, Rockhampton Qld 15 Moncrieff EC, Bundaberg Qld

HAYLEY MARSTEN MAY 5 The Junk Bar, Ashgrove Qld

JOHN WILLIAMSON JAMES BLUNDELL MAY 23 Norwood Hotel SA 24 Murray Bridge Community Club SA 25 Fleurieu Function Centre, Goolwa South SA

SPECIAL OFFER

MAY 9 Mildura Arts Centre Vic 10 Swan Hill Town Hall Vic 11 Eastbank Concert Hall, Shepparton Vic 30 Cessnock Leagues Club NSW 31 Wests Nelson Bay Diggers NSW JUNE

JON PARDI MAY 2 The Forum, Melbourne Vic

KACEY MUSGRAVES MAY 10 The Tivoli, Brisbane Qld

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C O U N T RY M U S I C C A P I TA L N E W S M AY 2 0 1 9

years of bringing you the music 1975–2019

LIFT OUT

Please note all show venues & times are correct at time of printing.

Capital News recommends you check with the venue prior to attending.

12 Enmore Theatre, Sydney NSW 14 Palais Theatre, Melbourne Vic 17 Auckland Town Hall NZ

KEL-ANNE BRANDT MAY 10-12 Bay Of Islands Country Rock Festival, Paihia NZ 16 Mingara Recreation Club, Tumbi Umbi NSW JUNE 5 Bankstown SC NSW 30 Sawtell RSL NSW JULY 4 Camp Breakaway, San Remo NSW

KIDDNKELLY GANG MAY 5 Time Warp Festival, Palmwoods Qld

KYLIE ADAMSCOLLIER

2 The Glasshouse, Port Macquarie NSW 13 Horsham Town Hall Vic 14 Swan Hill Town Hall Vic 15 Riverlinks Eastbank, Shepparton Vic 20 Yoogali Club Griffith NSW 21 Wagga Wagga Civic Theatre NSW 22 Albury EC NSW JULY 28 Groundwater CMF, Broadbeach Qld AUGUST 15 Mandurah PAC WA 16 Crown Theatre Perth WA 17 Bunbury Regional EC WA 22 Brolga Theatre Maryborough Qld 23 Moncrieff EC, Bundaberg Qld 24 The Great Western Hotel, Rockhampton Qld 29 Cairns PAC Qld 30 Townsville EC Qld 31 Mackay EC Qld SEPTEMBER 5 Kingaroy Town Hall Qld 6 Empire Theatre, Toowoomba Qld 7 Kedron-Wavell SC, Brisbane Qld 13 Rooty Hill RSL Club NSW

LYN BOWTELL JUNE 27 Django Bar, Marrickville NSW 29 Tilligerry RSL NSW

MAY 19 Grafton Districts SC NSW 26 Masonic Hall, Morriset NSW JULY 6 St George Showgrounds NSW

*Backroad Nation Tour* MAY 11 Berry Showgrounds NSW 30 Saraton Theatre, Grafton NSW 31 Cex Club, Coffs Harbour NSW JUNE 1 Club Forster NSW years of bringing you the music 1975–2019

MAY 3 Club Ashfield NSW 5 Marrickville Organic Food Markets NSW 9 Double Bay Organic Food Markets NSW 11 Organic Food Markets, Orange Grove Public School, Leichhardt NSW

MICHAELA JENKE MAY 11&12 Broken Hill Demo Club NSW 19 Birdwood Farm Day SA JULY 6 The Barn @ Wombat Flat, Neales Flat SA 7 Quorn Oval SA 8 North Blinman Hotel SA 10&11 William Creek Hotel SA

MURPHY’S PIGS MAY 3 Glen Innes SC NSW 4&5 Standing Stones, Centennial Parklands, Glen Innes NSW JULY 23 The Bug, New Farm BC Qld

PEPPER JANE MAY 4 Jimbour Station Qld 5 Norville Hotel, Toowoomba Qld 11 Peregian Beach Hotel Qld 25 The Green Bowl, Imbil Qld

SARA STORER With Special Guests Shanley Del & James Gillard and Greg Storer MAY 2 Laurieton United Services Club, NSW 3 Macksville Ex-Services Club, NSW 4 Casino RSM Club, NSW 10 Hamilton Hotel, Brisbane Qld 11 Caloundra RSL Club, Qld 16 Southern Cross Club, Canberra ACT 17 Milton Theatre NSW 18 Club Sapphire, Merimbula NSW

SOPHIE RAINBOW MAY 3 Bad Betti’s, Kingston ACT 12 Walt & Burley, Kingston ACT

SUSAN KEENAN MAY 12 Montville Bar and Grill Qld 24 Powerboat Club Golden Beach, Caloundra Qld 26 Montville Bar and Grill Qld

PETER CAMPBELL

MAREN MORRIS

LEE KERNAGHAN

MERILYN STEELE

*Girl: The World Tour* AUGUST 19 Brisbane City Hall Qld 21 Forum Theatre, Melbourne Vic 22 Enmore Theatre, Sydney NSW 23 UC Refectory, Canberra ACT

MELISSA ROBERTSON MAY 5 Berry Reserve, Narrabeen Lakes NSW JUNE 8&9 Dubbo Macquarie Inn NSW

MAY 3 Gatton View Hotel Qld 11 Twin Towns Services Club, Tweed Heads NSW JUNE 14 Gatton View Hotel Qld 21 Toowoomba Showgrounds Qld 30 Toowoomba City GC Qld

SAMI MAY 3 Albion Hotel, Singleton NSW 10 Summerland Sporties, Summerland Point NSW 10 Settlers Tavern West Gosford NSW 17 Horse & Jockey Hotel, Singleton NSW 18 Shortland Hotel NSW 24 Summerland Sporties, Summerland Point NSW

TAYLOR PFEIFFER MAY 4 Arkaba Hotel, Fullarton SA 11 Crown Inn, Reynella SA 24 Belair Hotel, Blackwood SA 25 Holdfast Hotel, Glenelg South SA JUNE 01 Wheatsheaf Hotel, Thebarton SA

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LIVE MUSIC SCENE 07 Belair Hotel, Blackwood SA 09 Southern CMC, Clovelly Park SA 14 Lodge Hotel, Brahma Lodge SA 15 Crown Inn, Reynella SA 16 Karoonda Silo Art Launch SA 21 Paradise Hotel SA

TRAVIS COLLINS

THE WOLFE BROTHERS

THE WEEPING WILLOWS MAY 4 Newport Bowls Club Vic 11 The Kitchen Door, Barjarg Vic 25 Taer Angwidd Farm, Wollombi NSW JUNE 2 All Saints Bendigo Vic 9 Korumburra Southern Lights Festival Vic JULY 13 The Sider Diner @ City Sider Tamworth NSW 27 The Spotted Mallard, Brunswick Vic

THE WESTERN DISTRIBUTORS JUNE 16 Marrickville BC NSW 21 Ashfield RSL Club NSW

MAY *Backroad Nation Tour* 11 Berry Showgrounds NSW 30 Saraton Theatre, Grafton NSW 31 Cex Club, Coffs Harbour NSW JUNE 1 Club Forster NSW 2 The Glasshouse Port Macquarie NSW 13 Horsham Town Hall VIC 14 Swan Hill Town Hall VIC 15 Riverlinks Eastbank Shepparton Vic 20 Yoogali Club Griffith NSW 21 Wagga Wagga Civic Theatre NSW 22 Albury EC NSW JULY 28 Groundwater CMF Broadbeach Qld AUGUST 3 Merry Curry Muster, Cloncurry Qld 15 Mandurah PAC WA 16 Crown Theatre Perth WA 17 Bunbury Regional EC WA 22 Brolga Theatre Maryborough Qld 23 Moncrieff EC, Bundaberg Qld 24 The Great Western Hotel, Rockhampton Qld 29 Cairns PAC Qld 30 Townsville EC Qld 31 Mackay EC Qld

MAY 1 Moonshiners, Tamworth NSW 2 The Roxy Theatre & Greek Café, Bingara NSW 3 Maryborough Sports Club Qld 5 B’day Riverbender, South Bank Wharf (next to Wheel of Brisbane) Qld 10 Rooty Hill RSL NSW 11 Berry Showground NSW 17 Cessnock LC NSW SEPTEMBER 28 C2C Festival, Sydney NSW 29 C2C Festival, Boondall, Brisbane Qld

JUNE 13 Lizotte’s Newcastle NSW 14 Anita’s Theatre, Thirroul NSW 15 Rooty Hill RSL NSW 16 Milton Theatre NSW 20 Mandurah PAC WA 21 Friend’s Restaurant, East Perth WA 22 Civic Centre Gardens, Port Hedland WA JULY 18 The Event Centre, Caloundra, Qld 19 Town Hall, Kingaroy, Qld 21 Civic Centre, Ipswich, Qld 26 Berry School of Arts NSW 27 Mingara Recreation Club, Tumbi Umbi NSW

WATLING & BATES MAY 19 Dalby CMC Qld JUNE 11 New Farm Bowls Club, Brisbane Qld JULY 27 Camp Davey, Lismore NSW

WAYNE HORSBURGH

TROY CASSAR-DALEY MAY 9 Bairnsdale RSL Club Vic 10 Wonthaggi Workmens Club Vic 12 The Palms at Crown, Melbourne Vic

MAY 2&3 Horsham RSL Club Vic 4&5 Lameroo Memorial Hall SA 11 Kingscote Town Hall, Kangaroo Island SA 17 Harvest Christian School Hall, Kadina SA 24 Wangaratta Park Lane BC Vic 25 Tangambalanga Community Centre Vic 26 Wagga Wagga Commercial Club NSW 27 Young Bowling Club NSW

Visiting Tamworth?

See Star Maker’s amazing journey at the Star Maker Café at Diggers, Kable Ave, Tamworth

1979 34

THE LEGEND CONTINUES C O U N T RY M U S I C C A P I TA L N E W S M AY 2 0 1 9

2019 years of bringing you the music 1975–2019

BEHIND THE MUSIC

David with Smoky Dawson and Peter Hosking

David with Texan crime novelist Kinky Friedman in 2002

CAP NEWS FEATURE WRITER NOMINATED FOR CMA MEDIA AWARD VETERAN COUNTRY MUSIC CAPITAL NEWS FEATURE WRITER AND REVIEWER DAVID DAWSON HAS BEEN NOMINATED FOR THE 2019 WESLEY ROSE INTERNATIONAL MEDIA ACHIEVEMENT AWARD.

H

e is one of five Australians nominated for the annual awards judged this year.

It’s the latest chapter in Dawson’s journey.

He began writing for Capital News in the eighties after chronicling late embryonic editormusician Jazzer Smith – as drummer in Hobart sixties rock band The Electrons.

Dawson wrote about country music as a cadet journalistmusic columnist on Launceston Examiner from 1965-8 and music columnist for Albury Border Morning Mail in 1969.

Smith was diagnosed with cancer and moved to the mainland and became drummer for Homestead.

Dawson then wrote for JAMM and Across Country Magazines while Jazzer was editor.

That writing relationship continued when Jazzer was editor of Cap News after moving to Tamworth and published Dawson’s interviews.

He also wrote chapters for Smith’s 1984 Book Of Australian Country Music encyclopedia and David Latta’s 1991 book Australian Country Music.

Dawson, now 71, began on counter culture magazines Tom Thumb and Kings Cross Whisper at school and was crime and music writer for Melbourne Truth from 1970-79.

He also wrote country music columns and features for the Geelong Advertiser, Juke, In Press, Beat, Mixdown, Nation Review, TV Week, Listener-In Scene, The Living Daylights and Loose Licks.

years of bringing you the music 1975–2019

Dawson later wrote country music features for The Herald Sun, The Age, People, Warrnambool Standard and Australasian Post and was music columnist-feature writer on Sydney Daily Mirror from 1980-85.

During that era he contributed music news reports for the Malcolm T Elliott show on 2UE, John Singleton-Harry Wilde show on 2KY and 4KQ in Brisbane.

While writing for the Mirror he penned the Dead Livers spoof of Slim Dusty hit Duncan – I’d Love To Have A Joint With Willie released during the 1981 tour by Willie Nelson, now 85.

He co-wrote Darcy LeYear’s satiric Hillbillies Hate Change and Death Breath that was recorded

by Nev Nicholls.

Dawson also penned Jodie – about his former Daily Mirror colleague and long-time partner Carol Taylor – that was recorded

by Darcy and B.J. McKay. She was videographer-concert

With Darcy Le Year

photographer for Nu Country TV and Willie Nelson’s 2006 July 3 and 4 Picnics.

As St Vincent De Paul strategic plannercommunications manager, Taylor sourced three new original songs for Vinnies After The Fire 2019 Black Saturday bushfire benefit CD. They were Kevin Welch’s Marysville, Shane Howard’s Carry Me and Salty Tears by Country Paydirt singer-songwriter Ross Buchanan who lost a son and daughter in the Kinglake fires.

Dawson earlier co-hosted High In The Saddle for 10 years on 3RRR-FM and two years on 3PBSFM and was a guest on 3UZ in its country era.

He was co-founder of aspirant broadcaster Nu Country FM in 1994 and President until 2001 and president-producer of Nu Country TV on Channel 31/44 in Victoria since 2002.

Dawson continued writing features and reviews for Cap News during Cheryl Byrnes editorship and interviews for Country Update, Total Country and Country Music Round-Up. He is also an ARIA, Age Country Music Awards and CMAA Golden Guitars judge.

Dawson wrote liner notes for Raven Records compilation discs by Willie Nelson, Dave Loggins and Steve Fromholz and AIM Records retrospectives by Johnny Lee, Ronnie Love, Billy Larkin, the late Boxcar Willie and Johnny Bond.

Dawson was also chauffeur for singing Texan crime novelist Kinky Friedman on his 2002 Australian tour and Willie Nelson on the New Zealand leg of their 1981 tour.

He also had a cameo in Musical Chairs – one of Kinky Friedman’s 25 books – and video clips for Steve Hoy, Dave Warner and others.

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THE SIDEMEN

BY ANNA ROSE

WHILE 2017 CMAA MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR GLEN HANNAH LOVES TO MAKE MUSIC, HE’S MUCH HAPPIER AS A SIDEMAN, OUT OF THE SPOTLIGHT.

E

ven though he’s played on stages across the world, it’s not the bright lights that attracts him … it’s the pure love of making music.

As a six-year-old kid from Collinsville, North Queensland, Glen’s mum would take him to guitar lessons on a local farm.

There he would learn songs straight out of the Slim Dusty Songbook and a beginner classical guitar book from teacher Jean Honnery.

While attending a Brian Young Show gig at a local pub, he gained a whole new inspiration watching the lead guitarist.

“I’m not sure who it was, possibly Ricky Shipp, but he improvised all night,” Glen said.

“He just ripped it up. It just blew my mind that someone could play that much music without a book in front of them.

I suddenly realised you didn’t just have to read music. You could actually play music.”

Glen literally sang for his supper at his first gig. It was a French restaurant in Bowen, so of

36

HAPPY OUT OF THE SPOTLIGHT course he had snails, which he promptly threw up.

His folks moved to Gladstone when he was about 14, which was the scene of his first paying gig in a duo at the Rocky Glen Tavern.

These days Glen is kept busy in a variety of ways. He is the proud dad of two beautiful daughters – Tia and Ellie, and husband of Felicity Urquhart; he has a thriving business as a graphic designer and photographer; he is a go-to producer in his own studio (Felicity Urquhart, The Flood) and is often called on for session work by artists including Lee Kernaghan, Graeme Connors and Brad Butcher.

Being such an in-demand axeman, Glen uses a lot of different instruments, which is his perfectly plausible excuse for having an extensive guitar collection.

His favourite is a custom-made Jeff Senn Telecaster Jedd Hughes put him onto in Nashville, which has been played at some pretty special gigs.

“I played it on the Jim Lauderdale gig at CMC Rocks, and it’s been on a lot of country records. I even played it on a Passenger track in Sydney once, oh, and for Giggle and Hoot,” he said.

Gigging is still something Glen enjoys immensely. He’s part of Don Walker’s band, The Flood and The Faceless Men. Asked about his favourite moments on stage, one stood out as a clear winner.

“Playing the solo on Eagle Rock with Ross Wilson … I’d played it so many times in bad duos in RSL clubs over the years, but to do it with him, Chris Haig, Glenn Wilson and Lawrie Minson was the ultimate,” he said.

“Some of the Kasey gigs in America were pretty special,

C O U N T RY M U S I C C A P I TA L N E W S M AY 2 0 1 9

too – The Roxy in LA, La Zona Rosa in Austin, the Bowery Ballroom and The Bottom Line in NY. All sorts of people would come along to the gigs over there – Dwight Yoakam, you name it. Ron Sexsmith came to The Bottom Line.”

After so many highlights, what was Glen’s least memorable gig?

“I remember showing up for a duo gig with a good friend of mine in Pendle Hill, Western Sydney. The locals were the roughest bunch I’d ever seen. Due to a scheduling mix-up, they were expecting a British singalong, so when we showed up, they were very unimpressed … it was a long night, with a lot of threats of violence.”

When Glen listens to music, it’s usually Ry Cooder, Larry Cordle or the Punch Brothers.

Lately he’s been listening to Ethan Gruska.

“Whenever I’m sitting in front of a fire, I listen to Jason Isbell. He’s about the only artist in the world I can listen to for hours on end … apart from my darling wife, of course.

“My main influences have come from local players like Mark Punch, who’s been a bigger influence on my playing than anyone really; Steuart Smith, who plays with the Eagles now, but has played on a lot of Rodney Crowell records and other great stuff.

“And Stuie French, although he’s more an inspiration than an influence. He’s a genius … I can’t do what he does.”

years of bringing you the music 1975–2019

W H E R E A R E T H E Y NOW ?

NOT SLOWING DOWN

BY SUSAN JARVIS

SEVEN YEARS AGO, NEW ZEALAND COUNTRY MUSIC ICON SUZANNE PRENTICE DECIDED IT WAS TIME TO SLOW DOWN.

S

uzanne said “It worked for almost a year, then I realised that I really wasn’t ready. So I picked up the reins and got back into it.”

“The difference is that now I do the work I want to do – I’m in the very privileged position of being able to pick and choose, and to balance work and my personal life.

Despite being based in Invercargill, at the years of bringing you the music 1975–2019

bottom of New Zealand’s South Island, Suzanne has carved out a remarkable career that has now lasted more than four and a half decades.

She was just 16 when she became Australia’s first-ever Female Vocalist of the Year Golden Guitar winner with the Buck Owens’ song Dust On

Mother ’s Bible, taking out the category in the second year of the awards, when it was introduced.

She picked up further Female Vocalist trophies in 1977 and 1978, then in January 1983 went on to win the award for the Best Selling Country Album of 1982.

“Those awards are among the proudest moments of my career,” Suzanne said.

But there have been many others, including her New Zealand Rising Star award in 1977, New Zealand Entertainer of the Year in 1986 and the Variety Artists of New Zealand Top Female Vocalist award in 2009.

She was inducted into the Hands of Fame in Tamworth in 1997, and has also been inducted into the New Zealand Hands of Fame.

And in 2008 she received the New Zealand Country Music Association’s Country Music Legend Award.

Then there was the announcement that she’d been awarded an OBE for services to the music industry.

The award came not only for her work as a performer, but for work with some 800,000 school children in her Kids for Kids shows, with the dual aim of building confidence and talent among New Zealand children, and raising awareness and funding for underprivileged kids.

It is a program she’s about to resume in her role as World Vision Ambassador. She’s partnered with NZ Education, and will soon begin presenting shows in New Zealand’s major cities again.

Suzanne spent several years based in the United Kingdom, but divided her time between her international career and her home in New Zealand. In the end, she says she knew it was time to base herself back home – a decision she’s never regretted.

These days, she spends much of her time on the high seas, performing for eight different cruise lines as a guest artist, as well as appearing at concerts and festivals all over the world.

She’s performed for Queen Elizabeth II at a Royal Command Performance and played to a packed Wembley Stadium with Crystal Gayle, Tammy Wynette, George Jones and Kris Kristofferson. More recently, she worked with Julio Iglesias, The Beach Boys and Michael Barrymore.

She also appeared in the starring role of Grizzabella in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats.

After 17 years break from recording, in 2012 she released a new album, The Very Best of Suzanne Prentice. She says she is currently putting together material for a possible another album.

And somewhere along the way, she found time to write two lifestyle books and to stand for election as the Mayor of Invercargill.

“I’ve had a wonderful career, and I’ve been incredibly lucky – in fact, I keep pinching myself that I can still work and love it so much today,” she said.

“I feel I’ve paid my dues, and earnt my place, but I still love going on stage and performing – and I am thankful that I’m able to keep on doing it.”

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TOMMY EMMANUEL RECEIVES HIS GOLDEN GUITAR

Polling ran from March 8 to April 6 and the vote concluded with 73 per cent of voters calling for a minimum requirement of 50 per cent contribution by Australia/New Zealand songwriters, and 27 per cent calling for a minimum of 33 per cent. All Australian/ New Zealand songwriter/s must also be a professional member of the CMAA, and the Golden Guitar trophies will only be presented to the Australian/New Zealand co-writer/s.

NEW BOARD MEMBERS

PHOTO: DARRYL BROWN

In more good news, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome Peter Simpson and Tim Holland onto the board as appointed board members for 12 months. Both have decades of experience in the country music industry and we are all enjoying working with them in their new roles.

BY DAN BIDDLE

ON SUNDAY, APRIL 21, TOMMY EMMANUEL WAS PRESENTED WITH THE GOLDEN GUITAR TROPHY THAT HE WON AT THE 2019 COUNTRY MUSIC AWARDS OF AUSTRALIA IN TAMWORTH.

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had the great pleasure of presenting Tommy Emmanuel with his Golden Guitar award for 2019 Instrumental of the Year during his show at the Opera House, Sydney. Tommy won for the song Wheelin’ & Dealin’ from his brilliant album Accomplice One. I’d like to congratulate Tommy on his continued international success and thank him for being an ambassador for the Australian

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country music community around the world and for all he does to nurture and inspire so many emerging artists.

Thank you Tommy and congratulations!

AMENDMENT UPDATE In 2018, the Country Music Association of Australia recognised that an increasing number of our artist and songwriter members are collaborating with international songwriters, and we made an amendment to the rules for the APRA/AMCOS Song of the Year in the 2019 Golden Guitar Award to reflect this.

The CMAA board and members passed the resolution at the AGM in Tamworth to put the issue to a vote.

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MEMBER SERVICES Professional members can now keep their own details updated and spread the word about their gigs through the CMAA’s new website.

You can log into your profile on our website https://country.com.au/membership/ login and add your bio and photo, upload gig information, and check your renewal dates and much more. Email us at info@country. com.au for further information or assistance.

THE ACADEMY One of our most important roles in the industry is to nurture up-and-coming talent and applications close at the end of May for The Academy Junior Course. If you are a singer-songwriter and/or musician aged 17 years old and under, or know someone who is and they want to learn more about making a career out of music, please apply now: http:// academycountrymusic.com.au/apply/

COUNTRY MUSIC CENSUS Finally, thank you to the thousands who completed the fan survey for the Country Music Census. Dobe Newton is busily compiling all the data and writing the report.

The winner of the Cruisin’ Country prize has been chosen and we’ll announce them shortly.

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O N E T O WAT C H

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eigha said “I have a vivid memory of watching Kaylee Bell take the 2013 Toyota Star Maker title, and I immediately knew that I wanted to be on that stage – whatever it took.”

Just six years later – and after having considerable success in other competitions – Leigha’s dream of being a Star Maker grand finalist was realised, when she stepped on stage in the 2019 quest.

“I felt so blessed to be there – especially for the 40th anniversary Star Maker,” Leigha said.

“It was amazing to perform to such a huge, enthusiastic crowd, and being a grand finalist gave me so many opportunities I never would have had otherwise.

“Making those connections in the music industry, and also making some good friends – those things are priceless. And being a Star Maker grand finalist means my name is out there now, and it has a degree of respect attached to it.

That’s how important the quest is.

“I also learnt so much from the judging process, and now I’m implementing everything I told the judges I’d do. I would love to enter the quest again, but I’m going to make sure I’m well and truly ready when I do.”

Leigha has certainly kicked some goals over the past few years. She was named the 2013 Queensland Champion of Champions, before going on to attend the 2014 CMAA Academy of Country Music.

The following year, she was named the winner of the prestigious Gympie Muster Talent Search.

Now Leigha’s embarking on a new stage of her career, with the release of her debut single, See You Around.

It’s an incredibly catchy, appealing and very contemporary track that is sure to attract plenty of attention for this vivacious young singer.

“I really wanted to get my first single right, so I held out for the right song,” Leigha said.

“This one came to me from Nashville. It was written by Skip Black, Carly Pearce and AJ Pruis, and I instantly fell in love with it when I heard it.”

The single is the first song from Leigha’s debut EP, due for release later in 2019.

The EP is still a work in progress, but she’s recorded a number of songs already, including the infectious country pop track You, which she co-wrote with her Star Maker idol, Kaylee

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SOWING THE SEEDS FOR SUCCESS

BY SUSAN JARVIS

LEIGHA MOORE REMEMBERS HER FIRST TRIP TO THE TAMWORTH COUNTRY MUSIC FESTIVAL AS A DEFINING MOMENT IN HER LIFE. Bell – who has become a friend and mentor. They also collaborate regularly on songwriting.

Other songs include I Won’t Stop You, a song about new beginnings, I Ain’t Your Girl No More, penned by Kelsea Ballerini, and the Hilary Lindsay song Lightning Bolt.

Leigha is working with producer Andrew Cochrane and industry stalwart Tom Inglis to ensure she has all her ducks in a row, ready to launch her career.

“I know that success is never instant, and that there’s a lot of hard work involved, so I’m ensuring the songs are right and the recordings are just what I want,” she said.

“I’m also putting as much time and effort as possible into my live performance skills, working locally and further afield every week to develop those techniques.”

Before deciding on a career in music, Leigha worked for a number of years as a zookeeper at Australia Zoo, near her Sunshine Coast home. She still adores animals and is a keen horsewoman who has recently got back into the saddle after a break from riding.

In recent years, she’s had the privilege of working live with the likes of James Blundell and Travis Collins.

She describes herself simply and honestly: “What you see is what you get. I’m a country girl who grew up barefoot and free on a rose farm surrounded by corn fields and dirt roads,” she said.

“That hasn’t changed, and it comes through in my music and the way I perform.”

Leigha’s just finished filming a clip for See You Around at the Little White Wedding Church in Maleny, and is excited about seeing and hearing her new single for the very first time.

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HEAR+THERE WILLO’S SONG FOR CHRISTCHURCH JOHN WILLIAMSON HAS RELEASED A NEW RECORDING, FLOWERS OF JACARANDA (SONG FOR CHRISTCHURCH).

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e wrote the song after initially penning a poem to express his grief over the Christchurch massacre of Friday March 15.

The song, recorded with award-winning producer Matt Fell, was influenced by his love of Grafton (the hometown of the alleged gunman) and the bond which exists between Australia and our “pacific family” New Zealand.

“Australians were shocked at the horrific acts we witnessed a few weeks ago in New Zealand,” John says. “You only have to look at the way we took our Kiwi mates in our arms

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back in Gallipoli’s Anzac Cove to see we’ve always been brothers and sisters across the water.”

“Flowers Of Jacaranda (Song For Christchurch) came quickly to me, as I wanted to express how these actions of hatred only bring us closer together.”

The song is available on digital streaming platforms and as a download with all money raised by the track donated to victims and their families via Victim Support NZ.

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John Williamson

It’s not the first time John has recorded a song in the wake of an horrific event that has shaken our region. After Prime Minister John Howard invited John to perform at the first anniversary of the Bali bombing in 2003, John penned the track Flower On The Water in tribute to the 202 lives lost in Kuta.

years of bringing you the music 1975–2019

H+T Katie Brianna

TWO NEW SIGNINGS

PHOTO: DAVID MCCLISTER

STRAIT TO #1

ICONIC ENTERTAINER AND KING OF COUNTRY MUSIC GEORGE STRAIT HAS CEMENTED HIS ICONIC STATUS WITH A RECORD-MAKING 27TH #1 ON BILLBOARD’S TOP COUNTRY ALBUMS CHART.

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he result was from the release of Strait’s brand-new album Honky Tonk Time Machine on MCA Nashville, and with 51,000 equivalent album units, the album also lands at #4 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart and marks the largest week of 2019 for any country album.

The album includes 12 original titles plus Strait’s version of the Johnny Paycheck classic Old Violin, and marks an incredible 30th career studio album.

Strait, who produced the album alongside Chuck Ainlay, wrote eight of the 13 tracks including Sing One With Willie featuring Willie Nelson that the pair happily debuted at a recent Nashville show marking the first time the two country icons have ever shared the stage.

God and Countr y Music, written by Luke Laird, Barry Dean and Lori McKenna, introduces Strait’s grandson, Harvey Strait.

“I’m really excited to have some new music coming out,” shares Strait. “It’s been about two years since I’ve released a record. It was great writing with Bubba and Dean again years of bringing you the music 1975–2019

and creating such a beautiful song with Bubba and Jeff Hyde.

Also, it was a very special thing for me to be able to write and sing one with the legend Willie Nelson. I hope everyone enjoys listening to Honky Tonk Time Machine as much as I enjoyed making it.”

The album news comes just ahead of Strait’s 21st and 22nd sold out Strait to Vegas shows at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena.

Australian fans can catch George Strait’s, “Strait To Vegas” show with a Las Vegas experience booked through Chris Watson Travel. The seven-day tour departs December 4 and includes flights and accommodation plus premium seats to the show, a tour of Las Vegas, an exclusive George Strait Gift. Call Chris Watson on 1300 552 032 or email chris@ christwatsontravel.com.au

Peta Caswell & The Lost Cause

STANLEY RECORDS HAS SIGNED KATIE BRIANNA AND, PETA CASWELL & THE LOST CAUSE.

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atie Brianna received her first Golden Guitar nomination in 2007 with her recording of the Paul Kelly song Jindabyne Fair. Her second nomination was in 2017 for her album Victim or The Heroine produced by Shane Nicholson in the Alternative Country Album of the Year.

Her new album, set for a September release, is being produced by label mate and frequent collaborator, Adam Young. Her band on the album features Young, as well as members of the Cruel Sea, the Re-Mains and Spurs For Jesus.

Talent definitely runs in the Caswell family with Peta Caswell, niece of legendary Australian singer-songwriter Allan Caswell, together with The Lost Cause band creating a soulful alternative country sound.

Peta appeared on last year’s ground-breaking Take Me To Town compilation.

The self-titled EP from Peta Caswell & The Lost Cause is out this month, with the debut album following early in 2020.

Stanley Records is the home of alternative country music in Australia with releases from Ben Leece, Adam Young and the aforementioned Take Me To Town compilation already on offer (amongst others).

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RISING COUNTRY STAR TIFFANY WOYS WAS EXCITED TO DEBUT HER MUSIC VIDEO FOR THE ANTHEMIC LOVE HAS NO HEART.

PHOTO: AMY RICHMOND

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RISING US STAR DEBUTS MUSIC VIDEO 42

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he clip, directed by Robert Chavers and filmed in Nashville, is a creative play on the heartwrenching lyric with an unexpected twist.

“I am so excited for everyone to see this video,” said Tiffany. “This song means so much to me, and finally being able to bring it to life for everyone is the most incredible experience! My team really made this story feel larger than life.”

Recently named a Taste of Country Artist to Watch, Tiffany released her self-titled debut EP in February.

Produced by Chad Carlson (Taylor Swift) and Bobby Campbell, it includes Love Has No Heart which was written by songwriting royalty Shane McAnally, Trevor Rosen, and Sara Haze. It’s closing in on one hundred thousand streams on Spotify. The fun and fiery lead single, Priceless, a love-fueled anthem penned by hitmakers Emily Shackelton (Every Little Thing), Kelly Archer (Sleep Without You) and Mickey Guyton (Better Than You Left Me) and spent several weeks in Radio Disney Country’s Top 20, also appears on the four song EP. Tiffany grew up being influenced by powerhouse vocalists such as Celine Dion, LeAnn Rimes, Faith Hill, Michael Jackson and Carrie Underwood. As a child, she’d look for any opportunity to get up and sing in front of people, and by the time she hit 20, she was recording an independent album and hitting the road. After honing her stage presence by performing relentlessly at venues and events up and down the West Coast, often for more than three hours at a time, she followed her dreams to Nashville. years of bringing you the music 1975–2019

PHOTO: JEFF NELSON

HER WORLD OR MINE MICHAEL RAY MAY BE ON THE HIGHEST OF HIGHS AFTER AN INCREDIBLE YEAR OF SOLD-OUT SHOWS, A #1 SINGLE AND TRAVELING AROUND THE WORLD PERFORMING FOR FANS.

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owever, he’s no stranger to heartbreak as he shares a thoughtful and honest perspective about love and loss in his latest single Her

World Or Mine.

Ray’s fourth single is the emotional centrepiece of his sophomore album Amos and starkly contrasts the carefree theme and upbeat sound of his recent #1 hit, One That Got Away. His relatable ballad examines both sides of a breakup and how painful moving on can be. The heartbreak expressed in Her World Or Mine, Ray says, “is the reason I got

years of bringing you the music 1975–2019

into country music.”

“When we added Her World Or Mine to our live show last year, the response was immediate and now every night on the road the crowd sings it back to us,” shares Ray. “I think it has resonated so strongly with fans because no matter which side you are on… the one who has moved on or the one who is hanging on…everyone has been there at some point in their life, they see themselves in this song. I certainly do.”

One of us still has our picture taped up on the dash One of us took that one from Mexico, threw it in the trash One of us don’t even notice When the radio plays that song One of us breaks down and has to pull over Whenever it comes on No there ain’t no in between When it comes to her and me One of us moved on, one of us got stuck One of us is drinkin’ just for fun One of us is drinkin’ to get drunk One of us sleeps good One of us hates to face the night Just depends if you’re talkin’ about Her world or mine The emotional song was written by Brett Beavers, Jamie Paulin and Travis Denning and produced by Scott Hendricks. The track has been described as a “poignant ballad” by Rolling Stone while People proclaims, “Michael Ray finds a new kind of coolness … by being more vulnerable.”

Ray is currently on the road continuing his popular Nineteen Tour, which includes festival appearances at Tortuga Music Festival, Stagecoach and Country Thunder. Michael joins Brantley Gilbert on his 2019 tour Not Like Us.

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MULTI-PLATINUM SUPERSTAR DARIUS RUCKER WILL RETURN TO THE HISTORIC RYMAN AUDITORIUM ON MONDAY, JUNE 3 FOR HIS 10TH ANNUAL DARIUS AND FRIENDS CONCERT BENEFITTING ST. JUDE CHILDREN’S RESEARCH HOSPITAL.

PHOTO: STEVE LOWRY

RUCKER’S MATES RAISE FUNDS FOR RESEARCH

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he event, which unofficially kicks off CMA Music Fest in downtown Nashville and has raised $1.6 million to date, will celebrate hitting the decade mark with an all-star roster of friends to be announced in the coming weeks.

Rucker, who has always prioritised philanthropic work, was honoured with the ACM Gary Haber Lifting Lives Award last year for his efforts and will receive the Harry Chapin Memorial Humanitarian Award at the upcoming 2019 Music Biz Awards. He made a commitment to support St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital specifically in 2008 after touring the facility known around the globe for treating childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases.

“This event is always special because I love seeing my friends come together to support St. Jude and the amazing work they’re doing for families,” shares Rucker.

“When we were planning the upcoming Hootie & the Blowfish tour, it was important to me that we kept this show on the schedule. Of all the exciting things to come this year, this night will still be a highlight.”

Friends performing with Rucker in past years have included Lauren Alaina, Brooks & Dunn, Luke Bryan, Luke Combs, Randy Houser, Charles Kelley of Lady Antebellum, Ashley McBryde, A.J. McLean of the Backstreet Boys, Brad Paisley and Kenny Rogers, among others.

The lineup for this year’s event had not been announced at time of going to print. years of bringing you the music 1975–2019

FESTIVALS

BLUEWATER

Adam Eckersley & Brooke McClymont

Adam Harvey

Adam Brand

Judah Kelly

LOCAL TOYOTA DEALER SPONSORS

PORT STEPHENS FESTIVAL PORT STEPHENS TOYOTA HAS THROWN ITS WEIGHT BEHIND THE BLUEWATER COUNTRY MUSIC FESTIVAL BECOMING MAJOR SPONSOR FOR THE 2019 EVENT.

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he line-up includes Adam Brand, Adam Harvey, Adam Eckersley & Brooke McClymont, Kaylens Rain Trio, Judah Kelly, Ruckus, Karen O’Shea, Mike Vee, Mick Jones, and Kristy J. The Bluewater events team and Tomaree Business Chamber are thrilled to be partnering with the local dealership to bring this year’s festival to the bay from June 7 to 9 over the June long weekend.

Following the lead from Toyota as overall sponsor of the Tamworth Country Music Festival and local branch Tamworth City Toyota as sponsor of Tamworth’s midyear Hats Off To Country Festival, the Port Stephens branch felt a strong connection with the country years of bringing you the music 1975–2019

music brand and to commence a partnership with event organisers.

Established in 2006, the Bluewater Country Music Festival has continued to be run

by Tomaree Business Chamber volunteers, bringing the best country music to the coast every June Long weekend.

The event is held at 15 venues around the region including in Port Stephens, Nelson Bay, Anna Bay, Shoal Bay, Fingal Bay,

Salamander Bay, Corlette, Soldiers Point, One Mile Beach and Bobs Farm.

The festival program attracts local fans and visitors with all the stars, plus family activities and crowd favourite, line dancing with the Bluewater Linedancers and Bay Bootscooters.

The festival is not just about great music, but about promoting tourism, boosting local business and driving the local economy in the quieter season.

With a strong growth of followers to the festival, the chamber has been focused on finding new ways to ensure the longevity of the festival financially and from an events organisation perspective.

With the support of Port Stephens Toyota, the festival will continue to grow and remain a key event on the events calendar.

Visit the website bluewatercountrymusic. com for more information on the festival.

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FESTIVALS

PHOTOS: GREG SYLVIA

CMC ROCKS QLD

Main Stage

Ashley McBryde

12TH ANNIVERSARY YEAR BIGGEST EVER

CMC ROCKS QLD CMC ROCKS QLD, THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE’S PREMIERE COUNTRY AND ROOTS MUSIC FESTIVAL, DELIVERED ITS LARGEST EVER EVENT OVER THE WEEKEND MARCH 14 TO 17.

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he event completely sold out within 90 minutes, for the third consecutive year and Willowbank played host to 24,000 music lovers daily featuring stellar performances from 20 international and eight local artists.

Earlier entry and an extended festival program exclusively for campers ensured that festivities kicked off in fine fashion on Thursday afternoon, with festival first-timers

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Devin Dawson (USA) and Lindsay Ell (CAN), along with Rocks alumni The Sisterhood Band (USA), wowing audiences at the Jack Daniel’s White Rabbit Saloon.

Showcasing a superb roster of the very best the genre has to offer, Friday’s official festival

opening saw locals Aleyce Simmonds and Imogen Clark impress, before America’s Brandy Clark delivered her stunning main stage set.

A storm on Friday afternoon saw the Rebel and Stampede Stages close for around 90 minutes to ensure patron and staff safety. It didn’t dampen spirits, and festivalgoers turned out in force to catch the evening’s line-up, culminating in a hugely anticipated headlining set from Luke Combs (USA).

Returning artist Cam (USA) previewed brand new music, and made a surprise appearance during Thomas Rhett’s Saturday set.

Kasey Chambers and Troy Cassar-Daley,

years years of of bringing bringing you you the the music music 1975–2019 1975–2019

FESTIVALS PHOTOS: SOMEFX

CMC ROCKS QLD

Brandy Clark

Frankie Ballard

The Sisterhood

blitzed the stage with multiple appearances over the course of the weekend, playing to jam-packed adoring crowds. A cameo appearance came from Troy and his wife Laurel, who joined Kasey during her Sunday main-stage set for a stunning rendition of ‘The Captain’.

Brad Cox, 2018 Toyota Star Maker winner (AUS) cemented his star quality with a raucous Camper’s Bar set, audiences singing back every word.

Each year, the Songwriter Shows prove a firm highlight with Luke Combs, Thomas Rhett, Troy Cassar-Daley and Nashville songwriter Aussie ex-pat Kylie Sackley taking the stage to introduce and perform their songs in an intimate acoustic setting this year.

Festival standout, newcomer Morgan Wallen (USA) showed audiences why he’s one of the hottest rising stars of

years years of of bringing bringing you you the the music music 1975–2019 1975–2019

Thomas Rhett

Michael Ray

Troy Cassar-Daley

country music, and leaving a new legion of fans in his wake.

On her debut Australian visit, Ashley McBryde (USA) delivered two killer sets, while multi-Grammy-winner Jim Lauderdale (USA) brought his signature rhinestone-encrusted soul, with a powerhouse horn section and a surprise duet with local artist Felicity Urqhuart.

Florida Georgia Line delivered a hit-laden set spanning their entire catalogue from Cruise through This Is How We Roll and H.O.L.Y to worldwide smash Meant To Be, complete with an incredible fireworks display to close festival.

“There’s no words to express the pride we feel at the end of a weekend like this,”

said festival director, Jeremy Dylan. “A year’s hard work and dedication from thousands of staff and crew, culminating in an incredible four days.

“Seeing Luke Combs make his triumphant return as a heavyweight headliner, pin drop silence as Brandy Clark kept everyone wrapped round her finger at the Songwriters Shows; countless indelible moments that the fans, performers and us promoters will never forget.”

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FESTIVALS

PHOTOS: GREG SYLVIA

CMC ROCKS QLD

Brad Cox

Florida Georgia Line

Cam

Melanie Dyer

Jedd Hughes

PHOTOS: SOMEFX

Noah Schnacky

Morgan Wallan

Kasey Chambers 48

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FESTIVALS

PHOTOS: SOMEFX

CMC ROCKS QLD

Jillian Jacqueline

Jim Lauderdale

Carly Pearce

Tenille Townes

PHOTOS: SOMEFX

Emma Beau

Imogen Clark

Luke Combs

Lindsay Ell years of bringing you the music 1975â&#x20AC;&#x201C;2019

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PHOTOS: REBECCA BELT

EVENTS

All Senior Students 2019 Academy

THE SENIOR

ACADEMY

BY ROGER CORBETT

A PLACE WHERE MUSIC FLOWS, IDEAS UNFOLD AND COLLABORATION BEGINS.

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n mid-1994, Gary Robertson then working with Prime and the CMAA, came up with a proposal for a college. It was reworked by the secretariat team of Max Ellis, Bob Kirchner and Kate Nugent and submitted to the CMAA Board and on October 4, 1994.

The proposal was accepted and a sub-committee comprising 50

Max Ellis, Deniese Morrison, John Elliott, Sue Jarvis, Martin Cass and Dobe Newton was formed to investigate its implementation.

In 1997, the College of Country Music was formed and in 2010 it changed it’s name to The Academy.

It was an instant success and several great careers were launched including that of Lyn Bowtell who is now the director of The Academy.

On January 4, 2019 the students made their way to Tamworth by all modes of transport to

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attend the annual senior academy.

They came from every corner of Australia – Kiara Mercer (Wallaroo SA), Rachel Ricciuti (Silvan Vic), Ria Brcic (Camden NSW), Cassidy-Rae Wilson (Sydney NSW), Tony Q (Springfield Qld), Jaydin Shingleton (Westport NZ), Tayla Clavarino (Sale Vic), Kylie Gale (Caves Beach NSW), Billy Woodley (Perth WA), Lisa De Angelis (Gilead NSW), Ali Shield (Sunshine Coast Qld), Hannah Lee (Bellangry NSW), Joel ‘Bear’ McKay (Werris Creek NSW), Jem Cassar-Daley (Balmoral Qld), Tameka Kennedy (Bathurst NSW), Harriet Kelly (Hillston NSW), Michelle Russell (Bega NSW), Jarrod Hickling (Mungindi NSW), Melanie Gray (Darwin NT), Kiara Rodrigues (Alexandra Hills Qld), Ben Seymour (Watanobbi NSW), Ainslie Allen (Wellington NZ), Dani Rigby (Ashburton NZ), Issy Burnup (Airlie Beach Qld), Anthony Keith Baxter (Port Macquarie NSW), Gabi Blissett (Ashtonfield NSW), and Matthew Bresolin (Taroomball Qld).

years of bringing you the music 1975–2019

PHOTO CREDIT: TCMF

EVENTS

At the opening concert in Toyota Park

Superstar Kasey Chambers lends her voice to students

The first day they launched into preparing a concert showcasing their unique skills and within a short time frame had staged a highly entertaining show that had the staff visualising the final concert to be held in two weeks and how amazing that might be.

The staff of Lyn Bowtell, Simon Johnson, Kevin Bennett, Catherine Britt, Jayne Denham, Amber Lawrence, Roger Corbett and songwriters Allan Caswell and Katrina Burgoyne, got to work with the songwriting programme, the performance skills, musicianship and music business modules, while the students take notes furiously, sing, play and write their hearts out.

The group formed close bonds with each other during this process, living in each other’s pockets and sharing their stories and dreams with each other.

The instrumental group under Simon Johnson formed a tight unit that delivered a professional standard of musicianship at every show. The players have their own years of bringing you the music 1975–2019

Billy Woodley practices what he’s learned

Group at The Pub Meet & Greet with Lisa De Angelis, Ali Shield, Jem Cassar-Daley, Tameka Kennedy, Matt Bresolin, Billy Woodley, Kylie Gale, Hannah Lee and Joel McKay

unique journey and tuition and work incredibly hard for long hours, preparing them for the real life journey that lies ahead.

By the time of the final graduation concert, the students have had experiences of a lifetime.

In two short weeks they were writing songs with Allan Caswell, Katrina Burgoyne and their tutors; they had met and jammed with Kasey Chambers; heard stories and advice from Adam Brand, Travis Collins, Tori Forsyth, Katrina, Amber Lawrence, Matt Fell, Dan Biddle, Tim Daley and many others.

This academy course is the only one of its kind to actually put emerging artists in front of the very best working professionals and hear about the hard work that’s required and the trials and rewards of a life in the music industry.

The Graduation Concert in Blazes on January 18 went off without a hitch and the performance at Bicentennial Park for the opening was a great thrill for all the students.

They left Tamworth with their heads bursting with new ideas and perceptions as well as a phone full of contacts and two dozen brand new friends.

Is it any wonder that the Golden Guitar awards, Toyota Star Maker, and so many festivals are populated with academy alumni using the skills they learned at The Academy over two hot weeks in January.

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FESTIVALS

C2C

COUNTRY COUNTRY Sinead Burgess

Drake White

MORE ARTISTS HAVE BEEN ADDED TO THE PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED SUPERSTARS TIM MCGRAW, KELSEA BALLERINI AND MIDLAND FOR THE INAUGURAL C2C FESTIVAL IN AUSTRALIA.

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hey are US stars Drake White and The Big Fire and Reverie Lane, Australians The McClymonts, Travis Collins, Andrew Swift, Judah Kelly, Sinead Burgess, and New Zealand artists Kaylee Bell and

Jody Direen.

Alabama native Drake White returns for his second visit to Australia. His debut album Spark shot to #1 on the iTunes Top Country Albums chart upon release, earning praise both commercially and across his

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loyal following. The undeniable sound of his soulful voice has whipped concert audiences into a frenzy as Drake and his band, The Big Fire, raise the roof and summon spirits to life onstage.

Nashville duo Reverie Lane will make their first Australian debut at C2C. Coming together in 2014, singer-songwriters

Spencer Bartoletti and Presley Tucker have achieved some impressive milestones which many musicians can only dream of, including performing on stage at The Grand Ole Opry and the Ryman Auditorium alongside Presley’s mother, country music icon and legend, Tanya Tucker.

Since the release of their debut EP in 2006, sisters Brooke, Sam & Mollie McClymont - The McClymonts - have established themselves as Australia’s number one country group with over a quarter of a million album sales, two gold album sales accreditations, twenty-two chart-topping singles and a reputation for being one of the most exciting touring acts in country music. They are 13-times Golden Guitar Award winners and recipients of two

years of of bringing bringing you you the the music music 1975–2019 1975–2019 years

FESTIVALS

C2C

Reverie Lane

Kaylee Bell

ARIA Awards, an APRA Award, three Country Music Channel Awards and a CMA ‘Global Artist of the Year’.

Seven-time Golden Guitar winner Travis Collins has a growing string of hit albums, #1 songs, awards and more than a decade of winning fans all across the country under his belt. Well-known for his masterful guitar playing and powerhouse vocals, depth of songwriting and high energy live performances, Collins continues to cement his footprint as a mainstay on the Australian music landscape.

Andrew Swift won two Golden Guitars in 2019 with his album Call Out For The Cavalry for Alt Country Album of the Year and New Talent of the Year.

Music has always been part of Judah Kelly’s life, from performing in front of family in a New Zealand church at the age of four to three stints at Tamworth’s Academy of Country Music and a number of years spent working for others as a live and studio guitarist and bass

years of of bringing bringing you you the the music music 1975–2019 1975–2019 years

Jodi Direen

player. His passion saw him win the 2017 season of The Voice Australia.

Australian Sinead Burgess makes a welcome return to the country music scene and her first festival appearance since the release of her album Damaged Goods and two of New Zealand’s hottest female artists, Kaylee Bell, who’s won just about every music award in her home country, as well as US Unsigned Only Overall Grand Prize, and 2015 Female Artist of the Year (CMANZ) Jody Direen, have been added to the program.

C2C will be 10 hours of country music, spanning multiple stages including the Main Stage, the C2C Spotlight Stage and the Town Square.

C2C made its debut at the O2 Arena in London in 2013 and has now become an annual staple on the UK festival calendar with tens of thousands of fans attending each year to enjoy some of the very best of country music. In 2015, C2C went into mainland Europe for the first time with shows in Sweden and Norway.

In 2019, C2C debuted in both the Netherlands and Germany C2C will take over Sydney Qudos Bank Arena on Saturday, September, 28 and Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Sunday, September 29.

C CO OU UN NT T RY RY M MU US S II C C C CA AP P II TA TA L L N NE EW WS S M M AY AY 2 20 0 11 9 9

53 53

FESTIVALS

PHOTO: NATHAN DORAN

ST KILDA

St Kilda crowd fixed on Troy Cassar-Daley

TROY WOWS

ST KILDA STAGE THE CITY OF PORT PHILLIP’S BIGGEST ANNUAL FEBRUARY ATTRACTION IS THE ST KILDA FESTIVAL DRAWING THOUSANDS OF MUSIC LOVERS OVER NINE DAYS.

T

he festival includes a free Indigenous and music events in O’Donnell Gardens before “Festival Sunday” and the Live N Local segment sees St Kilda’s favourite venues opening their doors to free live

performances.

The hallmark of the festival is “Festival Sunday” on 54

C O U N T RY M U S I C C A P I TA L N E W S M AY 2 0 1 9

the second Sunday of every February. The streets are closed to the public to create space for many platforms and to present Australia’s largest free music festival, the St Kilda Festival.

The festival is hosted by the

City of Port Phillip Council and showcases some of Australia’s best musical talent across seven stages.

There are street performers, buskers and live music acts all performing against the iconic St Kilda foreshore with family-friendly events and activities for the one day event.

City of Port Phillip Mayor, Cr Dick Gross, said council was proud of again hosting such a successful event in the heart of St Kilda.

“St Kilda Festival has been one of the most popular events on the Melbourne calendar for 39 years, drawing attention to the St Kilda area and all that it has to offer,” Cr Gross said.

years of bringing you the music 1975–2019

FESTIVALS

BIGSOUND

THE CREATIVE

ARTIST THIS YEAR’S BIGSOUND HAS THEMED IT’S EVENT AROUND ‘THE ARTIST AS CEO’.

T

he event will acknowledge the new music industry reality where artists are now truly in the centre of the industry, making empowered creative and business choices around their music.

BIGSOUND not only creates the Southern Hemisphere’s biggest new live music party, but also tools artists, managers, labels, publishers, bookers and years of bringing you the music 1975–2019

other music professionals with knowledge, inspiration and expanded thinking around their careers.

It will be held from September 3 to 6 and this year will relocate from the Judith Wright Centre to Cloudland, a Brisbane restaurant and event venue, which provide expanded conference and meeting facilities right in the heart of the BIGSOUND Festival precinct.

Artist applications are open with the festival once again providing three nights of showcases with over 150 bands from across Australia and the world playing in front of global industry decision makers. BIGSOUND has launched international careers for Flume, Gang of Youths, Courtney Barnett, and many more.

BIGSOUND is expanding its “Hook Up” sessions to

provide opportunities for artists and industry to connect through deeper one-on-one face time. With even more international delegates and decision-makers than ever before, BIGSOUND is not just your opportunity to hear from global industry and influencers, it’s their opportunity to hear from you. This year will also see the introduction of “WTF” microworkshops for accelerated understanding of important but often daunting subjects such as blockchain or neighbouring rights as well as a focus on relatable storytellers, thinkers and innovators.

Purple pass access, on sale now, is the only way to get into the BIGSOUND Hook Ups, WTF sessions and other conference events, as well as priority access to BIGSOUND Festival events.

For more information go to the website bigsound.org.au

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SOUNDADVICE RAINDANCE SARA STORER UNIVERSAL Sara Storer has always had her finger on the pulse of Australia’s heartbeat, capturing the joys, sorrows and unique qualities of Australia in a perceptive and honest way. This album is no exception. The title track perfectly captures the myriad emotions of living on the land, from the despair of drought to the joy of hope and community. It’s a resilience that also emerges in Hayrunner and Ploughin’ It In, which also explore drought and its impacts. But family is also central to Sara’s being, and the delightful Every Boy Needs A Bike, the heartfelt My Little Men and the sweet Natalie capture that perfectly. I also loved Someday, about following your dreams.

The Captain – a true story – is incredibly moving, but the remarkable How Sweet The Voice, written for victims of sexual abuse, lifts this album to a whole new level. This is a rich, authentic album full of powerful ideas and small yet very precious feelings. It is beautifully crafted, produced and performed, and another remarkable offering from this unique and gifted artist.

UMA 7737855 SUSAN JARVIS

WARRIES

PHILOSOPHIES

HOLY SMOKE

MILLENNIAL

INDEPENDENT

WJO

SQUIRREL MUSIC

INDEPENDENT

ANZAC Day inspires plenty of patriotic releases around the theme of commemoration and tributes to those who’ve served Australia and New Zealand, but they rarely come with such authenticity as Warries from Fred Smith. Smith was Australia’s first diplomat in Southern Afghanistan and has worked in The Solomon Islands and Bougainville, so has seen more than his fair share of military conflict and peacekeeping operations. This flows from his pen and has become Warries, a sequel to the moving, Dust Of Uruzgan. If that title sounds familiar, Lee Kernaghan did a duet on Dust Of Uruzgan with Fred on his album, Spirit Of The Anzacs.

Highlights include the first feature track, Scots Of The Riverina, the epic Battle Of Derapet, and Say A Prayer, while there are also light-hearted moments in Blue Guitar and Radio Bougainville.

For an authentic, sometimes witty, but always moving, insight into Australia’s recent military and peacekeeping missions, Warries brings it to you with Smith’s trademark intelligence and honesty.

Bec Hance found fertile fodder for fifth album entrée - Everyday TV Reality Shows. The fourthgeneration Gippsland beef farmer’s daughter lampooned a vast cast of canned laughter losers, winners and puppets feeding corporate commercial TV tsars. A slowmoving target with kryptonite chasers for victims - the viewers.

The dual Golden Guitars nominee prefers memories of a stockman hermit in the green grass of rodeo HQ Lang-Lang in Jelly Bean Man and wisdom of older women in Grandma’s Philosophies. Hance indulges in self-deprecatory humour in Size 10 and cornball advice on pronunciation How Do U Say It Mate - a sibling of sorts of Drink Like A Man. She peaks in Everybody’s Moving To Melbourne - a rollicking reflection of bush belles and blokes escaping to traffic choked capital cities. Jane Saunders tune Dancing In The Rain enables Hance to use tears as a drought breaker metaphor.

Bec explores diverse shades of romance in It Breaks Their Heart, Nothing Like The Hurt and pathos paean The Love Of My Life.

Sydney singer-songwriter Ingrid Mae swims in the slipstream of U.S. peers diverse as Marshall Chapman and Ashley McBryde on her second album in four years.

Ingrid produced her dynamic disc featuring 14 originals with drummer Rock Guy. It’s high charged turbo-tonking from defiant entree Choosy and slow burning new single Magnetic to evocative finale An Angel Said Hello. Mae reprises second pre-album single As The Crow Flies - a jubilant journey, replete with rodeo and highway imagery.

It follows punchy parable Undoing The Good and 45 - a numbing narrative driven by a heartache song, not a gun, and melancholic The Way You Leave Me. She celebrates romance in lightning strike ignited I Love The Bends and Bring It - also exploiting storm metaphors - in a salient segue to bluesy saga Saloons N Outlaws.

Mae celebrates fresh romance in New Squeeze and hedonistic Hell Bent, driven by a lover’s pugilistic and loco lust, before her equally explosive title track.

Country music is about stories, and while the tales of the pioneers and reflections of more experienced performers are part of the rich tapestry of our music, the newest generation of performers has a very different take on life. Newcomer Sophie Rainbow captures that spirit, with her vibrant, captivating new EP filled with songs about life from the point of view of a 20-year old millennial. Sophie’s spent the last few years travelling the world, penning her wonderful songs. I adored the title track, Millennial, and I also loved Paris With Empty Pockets – a song inspired by travelling on a budget – and the catchy Buena Suerte, which takes you to an exotic place and an emotional rollercoaster. The evocative When Winter Rolls In is a real standout, and Sophie’s thoughtful, perceptive songwriting is on display in For Jess And Billy, which speaks of Sophie’s hopes and dreams. This is a refreshing, very appealing and thought-provoking recording from a new singer-songwriter who is sure to keep carving a path for the new generation of country music.

Independent FSWCD2019 REBECCA BELT

REDBAK WJO DAVID DAWSON

SQUIRREL 085973129180 DAVID DAWSON

INDEPENDENT SR0001 SUSAN JARVIS

FRED SMITH

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BEC HANCE

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INGRID MAE

SOPHIE RAINBOW

years of bringing you the music 1975–2019

SOUND ADVICE - album reviews are the reviewers’ own opinions and do not necessarily reflect the view of Capital News or the publisher. Sound Advice will accept unsolicited albums for consideration, but cannot guarantee published reviews. Sound Advice does not review singles. Send 2 CDs together with biography or media release to Capital News, PO Box 555, Tamworth NSW 2340 and email a jpg of the cover to c.byrnes@tamworth.nsw.gov.au FROZEN RABBIT FELICITY URQUHART ABC MUSIC The prolific Golden Guitarist and multi-media minstrel made the most of her decade long hiatus as a solo artist by recording two trio discs with Lyn Bowtell and Kevin Bennett. Felicity, 44, celebrated her engagement 12 years ago in joyous entrée New Harmony that segues into maternity paean Chain Of Joy - one of two tunes penned with Zanesville born Kim Richey. Equally reflective is the title track where she yearns to freeze time to ease weight of multi-tasking.

Also memorable is her timeless testament to hometown Bingara family and friends honouring the fallen in the two major World Wars in Where The Fruit Hangs Low, written with Mick Thomas. Felicity honours late expat Scottish peer Karl Broadie in her collaboration with Rachel Webster on Cartwheel And Climb, adorned with fiddle and dobro, and duet with Karl on Slow It Down. She celebrates artistic pursuits of family members in Bon Bons and Hopscotch Sunday and grandparental finale Strawberry Footprints penned with Sarah Buckley. But it’s not all fruit and skittles. Breaking Your Heart Again, penned with Richey, explores a mutual friend’s ruptured romance and uplifting Speck Of Dust - digs deep into the psyche. True talent enriched by husband Glen Hannah’s production.

ABC MUSIC/UMA 602577-384721 DAVID DAWSON

BRAND NEW DAY

THE MAES

PLEASE SEND RAIN

THE SAINT OF LOST CAUSES

LNG

INDEPENDENT

INDEPENDENT

NEW WEST

It’s been more than a decade since Brothers3 took Tamworth – and then Australia through their TV appearances on The X Factor – by storm. They remain hugely popular, but they’re now young men and experienced performers – which means they’re getting better and better with each passing year. This album is an absolute delight. A mixture of their own compositions, a few wellchosen songs by other writers that they’ve made their own and some classics, it offers something for all their existing fans, and is bound to create new ones. I particularly loved the first track, the catchy, youthful Another Day, penned

by Makirum and Shardyn, and the trio has done a stunning job on Come Away. Other originals are Thoughts of You and Little Red, both standouts. The boys do a sensational job on three well-loved classics: Eternal Flame, The Eagles’ Lying Eyes and Bob Dylan’s Make You Feel My Love.

And the wonderful My Old Man is another great inclusion. This album is well constructed, beautifully performed and very appealing.

Out on the edge of country music, where country meets folk and roots music, in approximately in the same post code as artists like The Weeping Willows and Montgomery Church, you’ll find Melbourne based sisters’ duo The Maes. Their new self-titled album The Maes is a beautifully crafted, subtle and intimate recording.

The playing throughout is flawless and the crystal-clear vocals and exquisite harmonies are allowed to shine because of the sympathetic, uncluttered production. I found myself growing into this album … at first, I loved the sound of it and felt like I was listening in on someone else’s conversation. A second listen (and there was no way I could only listen to it once), revealed layers of nicely worked, witty, quirky and rewarding lyrics.

If I had to pick favourite tracks, I would probably pick Treat You Better or Tenderness And Alcohol, but this isn’t an album to cherry pick tracks for your playlist. The Maes deserves to be listened to in its entirety. In short, I loved this album

I’m sure Mr Kennedy won’t mind me saying that he is somewhat of a fixture on the Tamworth live music scene with regular appearances throughout each year, so it’s good to have some recorded product from him. A single from this release, Goodnight Little Man, saw a little airplay and was a sweet reprieve from the overwhelming sameness of current country pop releases and a bearer of good news for those who like their country ‘real’. That’s not to say Kerry can’t rock out, but there’s a very definite country feel in everything he does. Check out the rockier Please Send Rain, Straight Up and Black Dog. You can get your country and a touch of rockabilly with I’m Gonna Miss Ya and Nolan St respectively.

Kerry possesses a vocal tone edged with experience and dipped in smoky molasses that is hard to not like. Hopefully this EP will mean more to come and I for one can’t wait.

Nashville singer-songwriter Justin Townes Earle upstaged famed dad Steve on his prolific touring schedule here. It’s clear from entrée title track Earle, 37, digs deep into despair of denizens of his nation midst trump tripe and turmoil. Ain’t Got No Money depicts a desperado trying to reach New Orleans and the lonesome traveller waking to Mornings In Memphis. Further east modern Virginians poison land, rivers and sea in Don’t Drink The Water as drought and flood storms lurk in Frightened By The Sound.

Michigan economical and industrial devastation also wreak havoc in Flint City Shake It. Over Alameda finds a stranded mother yearning better times in California and others dreaming of escape in Pacific North Western Blues. But nothing compares with a young cop killer’s penitence in Appalachian Nightmare and Cubans stuck in poverty in New York City in Ahi Esta Mi Nina. Liberal use of Joe McMahen’s slide guitar and Paul Niehaus’s pedal steel primes pathos as Earle seeks redemption in Say Baby and finale Talking To Myself.

BROTHERS3

UNIVERSAL LNGAD0220 SUSAN JARVIS years of bringing you the music 1975–2019

THE MAES

INDEPENDENT ALLAN CASWELL

KERRY KENNEDY

INDEPENDENT JON WOLFE

JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE

NW 6454 DAVID DAWSON

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57

COUNTRYCHARTS ARIA TOP 20 AUSTRALIAN COUNTRY ALBUMS Week Commencing 22 April 2019 TW

LW

TI

1 NEW 1

HP

ARTIST

TITLE

1

SARA STORER KEITH URBAN MORGAN EVANS SLIM DUSTY KEITH URBAN KEITH URBAN ADAM BRAND KEITH URBAN TROY CASSAR-DALEY BRIAN CADD JOHN WILLIAMSON LEE KERNAGHAN TROY CASSAR-DALEY & ADAM HARVEY THE WOLFE BROTHERS BECCY COLE JOHN WILLIAMSON LEE KERNAGHAN JOHN WILLIAMSON JOHN WILLIAMSON KEITH URBAN

Raindance Graffiti U Things That We Drink To The Very Best of Slim Dusty Ripcord The Story So Far Milestones ? 20 Years Greatest Hits: 18 Kids Greatest Hits Silver City His Favourite Collection Ultimate Hits The Great Country Songbook Country Heart Lioness A Hell Of A Career!

The 25th Anniversary Album Butcherbird Anthems - A Celebration of Australia Fuse

2 1 51 1 3 2 27 1 4 4

1053 1

5 3 154 1 6 6

362 1

7 7 40 1 8 5

593 1

9 8 26 1 10 17 10 2 11 9 139 1 12 10 386 1 13 13 287 1 14 12 53 1 15 20 24 2 16 16 280 2 17 R/E 77 1 18 14 34 1 19 18 268 2 20 19 241 1

LABEL

UMA CAP/EMI WAR EMI CAP/EMI CAP/EMI ABC/UMA CAP/EMI BDL/UMA AMB/SME WAR ABC/UMA SME ABC/UMA ABC/UMA WAR ABC/UMA WAR WAR CAP/EMI

COUNTRY SONGS Week ending 27 April 2019. This chart is published by Campfire Publishing and updated weekly at countrytrackschart.com.au POS

LW

TI

HP

ARTIST

TRACK TITLE

1 1 9 1(7) DESTINY BAND OZ

My Family And Me

2 3 6 1(1) JED ZARB

Hillbilly Cider

THE LONG AND THE SHORT OF IT 3 7 3 3(1)

A Little Crazy’s Kinda Nice

CHRISTIE LAMB 4 8 10 2(3)

Hot Hot Kiss

5 9 5 2(1) JOHNNY CHESTER

Highway 31

6 12 22 1(1) THE WOLFE BROTHERS

Country Heart

ALAN AND TRACE 7 16 3 7(1)

Country’s What I Am

NEILLY RICH 8 4 2 4(1)

Hey You

GAYLE O’NEILL 9 5 3 5(1)

Open Arms

10 10 7 4(1) AMBER LAWRENCE

Outrageous

11 18 6 3(1) HAYLEY MARSTEN

Wendy

12 27 9 2(1) CASEY BARNES

Better Days

13 11 5 11(1) MICHELLE GARDINER

Sing Me A Memory

14 13 9 7(1) ANDERSON LANE

It’s A Cowboy Thing

15 14 2 14(1) AMOS MORRIS AND JUSTIN STANDLEY

Brothers By Chance

16 20 8 4(1) KAYLEE BELL

Keith

17 21 15 1(4) SHELLY JONES BAND

Merle

18 25 18 12(1) DANI YOUNG

Stepping Stones

19 24 24 1(1) BENN GUNN

Only In Australia

20 17 2 17(1) CATHERINE BRITT

Too Hot To Just Quit

58

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years of bringing you the music 1975–2019

OFFICIAL AUSTRALIAN AIRPLAY COUNTRY TOP 20 Week ending 24 April 2019 POS LW

TI

HP

ARTIST

LABEL

TRACK TITLE

1 1 11 1 MAREN MORRIS

Girl

2 2 7 2 AMBER LAWRENCE

Outrageous

3 4 6 3 THOMAS RHETT

Look What God Gave Her

4 3 9 3 LOCASH

Feels Like A Party

5 5 15 4 KELSEA BALLERINI

Miss Me More

6 6 13 2 LUKE COMBS

Beautiful Crazy

COL/SME

7 8 11 7 TRAVIS COLLINS

Road Warriors

ABC/UMA

8 7 11 7 FELICITY URQUHART

Chain Of Joy

ABC/UMA

9 11 6 9 LEE KERNAGHAN

Wheels

ABC/UMA

10 17 10 10 MORGAN WALLEN

Whiskey Glasses

11 9 13 7 MICHAEL RAY

One That Got Away

12 10 7 10 KAYLEE BELL

Keith

13 14 8 13 CHRISTIE LAMB

Hot Hot Kiss

14 33 8 14 JON PARDI

Night Shift

15 12 19 8 SCOTTY MCCREERY

This Is It

16 13 16 1 DUSTIN LYNCH

Good Girl

17 16 9 12 FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE

Talk You Out Of It

18 18 5 18 RODNEY ATKINS FT. THE FISK JUBLIEE SINGERS

Caught Up In The Country

19 32 3 19 MICK LINDSAY

Drink About You

20 15 16 3 THE WOLFE BROTHERS

Country Heart

COL/SME ABC/UMA BIG/UMA BMG SME

BLR ATL/WMA IND ABC/UMA CAP/EMI TRIP/SME BMG BIG/UMA CURB/SME IND ABC/UMA

CMC TOP 50 Week Commencing 27 April. This chart is updated weekly at countrymusicchannel.com.au or tune into CMC. TW ARTIST

TITLE

1 JON PARDI

Night Shift

2 KELSEA BALLERINI

Miss Me More

SONY

28 BRANTLEY GILBERT & LINDSAY ELL What Happens In A Small Town

3 OLD DOMINION

Make It Sweet

SONY

29 THOMAS RHETT

4 THE WOLFE BROTHERS Country Heart

ABC

5 BRETT ELDREDGE

Love Someone

LABEL EMI

WARNER

TW ARTIST

TITLE

LABEL UMA

Look What God Gave Her BIG MACHINE

30 BENNETT, BOWTELL & URQUHART Mountain Of Pain

CHECKED

31 CHELSEA BERMAN

Kiss Me Like You Miss Me

32 KAYLEE BELL

Keith

INDEPENDENT

33 NATALIE HENRY

Apple And Pride

INDEPENDENT

SFR

6 LUKE COMBS

Beautiful Crazy

7 MORGAN WALLEN

Whiskey Glasses

8 CHASE RICE

Eyes On You

BROKEN BOW

9 FELICITY URQUHART

Chain Of Joy

ABC MUSIC

34 GRAEME CONNORS

Kimberley Frontier

ABC

10 TRAVIS COLLINS

Road Warriors

ABC

35 KIRSTY LEE AKERS

Skeletons

SFR

11 MAREN MORRIS

Girl

SONY

36 KANE BROWN

Good As You

SONY

12 LEE BRICE

Rumor

CURB/SONY

13 CHRISTIE LAMB

37 JUDAH KELLY

Found

UMA

Hot Hot Kiss

ABC

14 AMBER LAWRENCE

Outrageous

38 DYLAN SCOTT

Nothing To Do Town

ABC

15 JETTY ROAD

Because We Can

SFR

39 CHRIS YOUNG

Raised On Country

16 LEE KERNAGHAN

Wheels

ABC

17 LOCASH

Feels Like A Party

18 RODNEY ATKINS

Caught Up In The Country CURB/SONY

19 CODY JOHNSON

On My Way To You

20 BROTHERS OSBORNE

I Don’t Remember Me

21 KACEY MUSGRAVES

Rainbow

22 FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE Talk You Out Of It

SONY BIG LOUD

WHEELHOUSE

WARNER EMI UMA BIG MACHNE

23 SARA STORER

Raindance

UNIVERSAL

24 CHRIS JANSON

Good Vibes

WARNER

25 RUNAWAY JUNE

Buy My Own Drinks

WHEELHOUSE

26 CATHERINE BRITT

Too Hot To Just Quit

LOST HIGHWAY

27 DANI YOUNG

Stepping Stones

years of bringing you the music 1975–2019

SFR

CURB/SONY SONY

40 BROOK CHIVEL W/ NATALIE PEARSON I Wonder What You Kiss Like CHECKED 41 JAYNE DENHAM

Ladies Letting Loose

42 GRETTA ZILLER

Go On

43 HAYLEY MARSTEN

Wendy

44 ABBIE FERRIS

Beat You At Your Own Game

45 CARLY PEARCE

Closer To You

46 VIPER CREEK BAND

Australian Girls

47 RANDY HOUSER

What Whiskey Does

48 ADAM BRAND

If Heaven Has A Soundtrack

49 WARD THOMAS

No Filter

SONY

50 ALEYCE SIMMONDS

Rejected

CHECKED

C O U N T RY M U S I C C A P I TA L N E W S M AY 2 0 1 9

CHECKED SFR INDEPENDENT SFR

BIG MACHINE CHECKED STONEY CREEK ABC

59

BUSH BALLADS

STRONG HISTORY

BY PETER COAD OAM WWW.BUSHBALLADEERS.COM.AU

THERE ARE A GREAT DEAL OF NEW RELEASES AND EVENTS THAT HIGHLIGHT THE STRONG BUSH BALLAD HISTORY.

T

he family of Heather McKean and the late legendary Reg Lindsay honour their parents with an annual heritage show in Nabiac, Anita Ree has captured her classic stories on her sixth studio album, Ginger Cox tips his hat to great country songs and Wally Sanderson’s personal writings can be found on a new release.

LINDSAY FAMILY HERITAGE SHOW Dianne Lindsay’s annual ‘Family Heritage Show’ was again an outstanding success. This was the tenth year the show has been held at Nabiac. The theme of the night was to celebrate Dianne’s family heritage in the music game and to celebrate those great hall shows of the past. Dianne Lindsay and Peter Simpson were joined by Marcus GINGER COX FAMILY FAVOURITES I have enjoyed this CD from Ginger & Family, which opens with a great instrumental version of Slim Dusty’s Plains Of Pepperminarti.

Ginger’s daughter Rohanee and cousins Francis and Alphonse, are all singing on this CD along with Ginger’s instrumentals and vocals making this a good family album. The selection of songs is good with two new songs from Ginger’s cousins, Michael & The Higgin Brothers. I like Ginger’s version of Eric Watson’s Queen Of Ice. Recorded by Gary Smith in Tasmania with Mick Wilson on pedal steel.

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Greene on bass and Mike Tyne on steel and musical friends, Jo and Ken Foote from Nelsons Bay, Frank Grey and Lorraine Pfitzner OAM. Up-andcoming young guitarist Anthony Baxter wowed the crowd with his great playing, and some lovely renditions of well-known ballad songs and classics. Dianne’s mother Heather McKean, along with Dianne’s sisters, Sandra and Joanne were present to add to the night’s entertainment. A special appearance by the ‘Nabiac Hillbillies’ was a popular inclusion with the crowd singing along to old country classics.

ANITA REE RECORDING Anita Ree has built a solid following for her style of Australian story ballads and her sixth studio album is almost ready for release. There are 11 Australian stories from Anita’s pen as well as one of her favourites. This album features some of our best players and pickers. Anita tells me she has collected an inspiring mix of songs about people, dogs and places. Her new album will be certainly one to look out for in coming months.

TOURING NEWS Lindsay Waddington will be heading up the Queensland coast in late June with a jam-packed show of top music featuring Lindsay Waddington, Lex K, and Ken Lindsay. The shows kick off in Gympie on June 26, Hervey Bay 27th, Bundaberg 28th, Rockhampton 29t, with the last show at Mackay on the 30th. Later in the year, Lindsay Waddington and Go See Touring will be hosting a ‘Little Bit Country’ on Norfolk Island from July 27 to August 3.

ABBA COMPILATION ALBUM The Australian Bush Balladeers Association has been releasing multi artist compilations since 2000. Volume 21 is all set for release later this month, featuring tracks from albums, along with new singles from established and upcoming artists. Artists involved can sell the album, and it is also sent to presenters of traditional country around Australia as promotion for the artists involved.

WALLY SANDERSON 80 YEARS & MORE THOSE GREAT OLD CLYDESDALES This new 17-track release showcases eight of Wally’s original writings including A Pledge Of Remembrance, Boss Drovers For Charity, and A Ballad Of Our Country, Buddy Weston’s Thistles On The Hillside, and Footsteps Coming Home, and Ray Rose’s ever-popular One Lifetime’s Not Enough and Peter Riddle’s, The Clydesdale. There is a good variety of songs and stories and overall this album is a strong presentation from Wally.

years of bringing you the music 1975–2019

D O W N M E M O RY L A N E

JEFF BROWN AUSTRALIAN PIONEER

BY LORRAINE PFITZNER OAM

GROWING UP IN A HOME WHERE COUNTRY MUSIC WAS THE ONLY MUSIC PLAYED, A YOUNG JEFF BROWN LEARNT TO LOVE AND APPRECIATE SOME OF THE GREATEST AUSTRALIAN AND AMERICAN PIONEERS OF COUNTRY MUSIC.

J

eff loved the Australian bush ballad music as long as he could remember so it was no surprise when he learnt guitar and then sang bush ballads as his main style of music.

In 1997, at the age of 21, Jeff recorded his first CD, a tribute album to the pioneer known as GP. I Remember Gordon Parsons which was released years of bringing you the music 1975–2019

through LBS Records. In 1998 he won the Stan Coster Memorial Bush Ballad Award in the Fosters Battle Of The Bush at the Tamworth Country Music Festival. He then went on a four-month tour with the legendary Brian Young show touring the outback of Australia learning more skills to becoming a successful entertainer.

In 1998, Jeff received the “Citizen of the Year” award in the Australia Day Agricultural Awards in Pittsworth Qld. At the 1999 Golden Guitar Awards Jeff was nominated in the top bush ballad song of the year with the song The Old GP written by Ian Quinn. He released his second album Poverty Liner in 2003 and receiving a top five nomination with the Keith Jamieson song The Ghost Of

Three Rivers Hotel.

Where The Yellow Kapocks Bloom, written by Wave Jackson, was on Jeff’s third album released in 2004, Mate I’m Feelin’ Lucky, and took home a Golden Guitar for the Bush Ballad of The Year in 2005.

He received more awards this time at the Stan Coster Memorial Bush Ballad Awards at Bungendore for his fourth album Harvest Time Again. The 2007 release won the 2008 Album Of The Year, with another top five nomination for the Kelly and Marion Dixon song In The Wings Of The Yard at the Golden Guitar Awards for bush ballad of the year.

Hard To Let Go was album number five this time produced by Stuie French and saw the Keith Jamieson-penned song I Love Australia take home the Golden Guitar for bush ballad of the year at the 42nd Country Music Awards in 2014. He also received the award for male vocalist of the Year and album of the year at the Stan Coster Memorial Wards at Bungendore Jeff grew up on the family property on the Darling Downs in Queensland and his love for the farming way of life and the trucking industry shines in his style of music. In 2000 he bought an old Value Liner Mack and has been an owner-driver ever since.

He loves to record and perform with his easy to listen to vocals you can see why he is a popular balladeer wherever he is performing.

Jeff believes that a good bush ballad tells a story that will touch the heart of everyday Aussies. He delivers these stories in song with sincerity and quality.

Jeff’s new release, produced by Stuie French, More Times Than I Remember, includes a selection of new songs and some great oldies which makes this CD a pleasure to listen to. The new song from Wave Jackson No One Does It Like You is very good as are the co-writes with Kelly & Marion Dixon on More Times Than I Remember, Northbound and The Weight Of My Chains. The Eric Bogle tune No-Man’s Land (a song he has loved and sang for several years) and Col Johnston’s Contended & Free are two great songs which Jeff has included on this CD. I think the stand out tracks are After Januar y Rains, More Times Than I Remember and Contended & Free.

Jeff was inducted into The Tamworth Hands Of Fame in 2016.

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WRIT ING GRE AT SONGS

WHERE IDEAS COME FROM

BY A L L A N CA S W E L L

AFTER “HOW DO I PROTECT MY WORK?” AND “HOW DO I MAKE MONEY?”, THE MOST OFTEN ASKED QUESTION ABOUT SONGWRITING IS “WHERE DO THE IDEAS COME FROM?”

T

he short answer is … everywhere. Unless I have an idea, I don’t even try to write a song, but I keep my songwriting radar on at all times. If you listen for it, people unwittingly throw ideas at you continually. The idea often doesn’t come fully formed. You start with a concept … a “why don’t we write a song about?” idea that bugs you until you come up with a cool way of saying it. A great songwriter needs to be a great eavesdropper.

My latest single Train To Godforsaken was written with Michael Waugh. Michael was staying with us for a couple of days before going up to Gosford to record with Shane Nicholson. Michael’s train trip to the mountains from the airport had been quite eventful and in hindsight quite funny. We thought there might be song in it. When Michael texted his wife to say he was getting the train to Gosford the next day, spellcheck changed Gosford to Godforsaken … we had our title.

My songwriting hero Mickey Newbury had a phone call from a friend one night to say that his wife had left him, and he could use

some company. When Mickey walked into the bar he said “She even woke me up to say goodbye” when She Even Woke Me Up To Say Goodbye was a huge hit, he cut his friend in for a big piece of it.

WHY STARTING WITH AN IDEA IS SO IMPORTANT The most time-consuming part of any writing session is coming up with the central idea or hook.

Once you have that, the fun starts. In a cowriting situation, one or other of you will usually have an idea and you can work from that. If not, just chatting can often turn up something.

I used to go to Nashville every 18 or so months and for a few weeks before-hand I would just write down hooks whenever I thought of them so I could just produce one of these “I had this idea last night” hooks and not

embarrass myself. If someone gives me an idea, I nearly always cut them in for at least 25% of the song … that’s how important the hook is.

WHERE ELSE? Current affairs, newspapers, films, books, causes and issues, are all fertile sources for ideas but be original … you don’t have to come up with an idea that no one has thought of before … there are thousands of love songs, for example, but the great writers can always find a new angle. If I get an idea, I will usually worry it to death until it turns itself into a song but there is a lot to be said for keeping a title book.

PURPOSE WRITTEN SONGS From time to time people will ask you to write a song for a cause or organisation. They immediately give you a start point and a reason to write. These can often be useful for creating ideas but can also lock you into stereotype songs with little or no room to move. Political songs can be great to write and effective, but you always run the risk of alienating half your audience. I have found humour to be a useful weapon in writing these songs.

WHY IT IS FUN In much the same way that people do crosswords and puzzles, playing with song ideas can be fun. If you have a big picture idea like saving the environment, coming up with a cool hook can be both challenging and satisfying.

When a doctor goes to a party, people will start trotting out details of their various illnesses. Songwriters get lots of song ideas thrown at them. Some of them will be rubbish but you occasionally get lucky.

See you next month … maybe.

If you have a question regarding any aspects of song writing or are interested in my “one on one” private song writing coaching service or details on upcoming songwriting workshops around the country … contact me at allan@allancaswell.com

ALLAN CASWELL SONGWRITING SCHOOL For information about future workshops: 0419 218 988, allan@allancaswell.com

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years of bringing you the music 1975–2019

COMINGEVENTS MAY 2019 2 Gold Coast Music Awards | Surfers Paradise | Qld | gcmusicawards.com.au 2-5 Mayworth | Australian Country Dance Festival | West Tamworth League Club | NSW 2-5 Australian Celtic Festival | Glen Innes | NSW | T: 02 6730 2404 2-5 Weethalle Country Music Muster 2019 | Weethalle Showground, Teamster Drive | Weethalle | NSW | Contact: Gayle Clark | M: 0428 757337 or Allan Clark 0428 695573 | E: allangayleclark@bigpond.com | Facebook: fb.me/weethallecmmuster 4-6 39th Annual Redlands CMF & TQ | Redlands Bay | Qld | M: 0438 050 249 | Contact Allen | M: 0413 877 756 | W: redlandscountry.asn.au 10-12 NZ Bay of Islands Country Rock Festival | NZ | Contact Shirley May | T: 027 235 0106 E: maysplace@actrix.co.nz W: country-rock.co.nz 13-19 Bouldy Bush Ballad Bash | Recreation Complex, Burnett Highway | Bouldercombe | Qld | Walkups Mon to Fri | Sat and Sun poets and invited guests | The Gunbarrel Highwaymen featuring Reg Poole, Terry Gordon & Owen Blundell, Brian Letton, Jeff Brown, Bruce Lavender, Sharon Heaslip, Ged & Trudy Hintz, Keith Jamieson & Alisha Smith & Caitlyn, Ray Essery, Gary Fogarty, John & Christine Smith | Facilities include camping, showers, toilets, water, food, and dogs welcome on leash |Contact Keith Jamieson | M: 0427 731 088 17-20 Music In The Mulga | “Wandilla Station” | 1508 Pitherity Road | Eulo | Qld | Featuring daily concerts from 10am, nightly entertainment, bush dance, Sunday breakfast, charity auction and yabby races | Contact: David and Carmel Meurant | T: 07 4655 4065 | W: musicinthemulga.com.au 20-25 25th Norfolk Island CMF | E: nicma@norfolk.net.nf | W: norfolkislandcountrymusic.com 21-26 Phil and Christine Coad’s Annual Country Muster | Wyper Park | Bundaberg | Qld | M: 0458 728 464 or 0419 603 371 | philandchriscoadmusters.com 24-26 Buckle & Boots Country Festival | Manchester | UK | Facebook.com/Buckleandboots/ 24-27 Barham Balladeers & CMF | W: clubarham.com.au 25 Paddock Sessions | Featuring Imogen Clark, Tori Forsyth, This Way North, Piper Butcher | Time: 1pm-10pm | Gates open: 11am | Taer Angwidd Farm | Wollombi | Hunter Valley | NSW | W: incywincycyder.wixsite.com/paddocksessions | 1pm-9:30pm gates open at 11am 31-June 2 NZ Gold Guitar Awards | Gore | NZ 31-June 10 41st SA CMF & New Talent Awards | Barmera | SA | T: 08 8588 2289 | E: vic@barmeratourism.com.au | riverlandcountrymusic.com JUNE 2019 1 Pioneer Valley CMF Fundraiser | Kuttabul Hotel | Qld | Time: 6pm | Facebook.com/pioneervalleycmf 1-2 (from May 31) NZ Gold Guitar Awards | Gore | NZ 1-10 (from May 31) 41st SA CMF & New Talent Awards | Barmera | SA | T: 08 8588 2289 | E: vic@barmeratourism.com.au | riverlandcountrymusic.com 3-9 Kenmore Park CM Muster | 44 Hayes Road | Lower Wonga | Qld | Contact Glen Albrecht | M: 0458 686 740 6-9 CMA Music Festival | Nashville | USA | cmaworld.com/cma-music-festival 6-10 62nd Henry Lawson Festival | Grenfell | NSW | T: 02 6343 2059 | E: info@henrylawsonfestival.com.au | W: henrylawsonfestival.com.au 7-9 The Barunga Festival | Katherine | NT | E: info@barungafestival.com.au | M: 0408 8941 8066 | barungafestival.com.au 7-10 Bluewater CMF | Port Stephens | NSW | W: bluewatercountrymusic.com 8-11 10th Perisher Peak Festival | Perisher Valley | NSW | T: 1300 811 324 | W: peakfestival.com.au 14-17 Corowa RSL Club Annual CM Round Up | corowarsl.com.au JULY 2019 1-7 Yellowbelly CMF | St George Showground | Qld | Featuring Jeff Brown, Dean Perrett, Bruce Lavender, Pete Smith, Gary Fogarty Ray Essery, Kylie Adams-Collier, Keith Jamieson, Alice Benfer, Alisha Smith, Caitlyn Jamieson | Entry to showgrounds from 9am Sunday, June 30 | Facilities include showers, toilets, power first in best dressed, food, hospital close by, motels, shops, dogs welcome on a leash | Entertainment: Walkups Mon-Fri, bush poets and invited artists Sat & Sun | Contact Keith Jamieson M: 0427 731 088 6 Muddy River Kids Country Music Awards | Whanganui | NZ | Facebook: Muddy River 9-14 Cunnamulla Poets and CM Muster | Featuring Justin Standley, Jeff Brown, Gary Fogarty, Ray Essery, Keith Jamieson, Alisha Smith, Caitlyn Jamieson, Bruce Lavender, Anita Ree, John & Christine Smith, Bec Hance, Pete Wilson| Entry to showgrounds from 9am Tuesday, July 9 | Entertainment: Walkups Tues-Fri, bush poets and invited artists Sat & Sun | Facilities include all weather venue, camping onsite, showers, toilets, dogs welcome on a leash, food available | Contact Keith Jamieson | M: 0427 731 088 or M: 0439 130 617 or Walkups M: 0419 577 650 11-14 Bello Winter Music Festival | Bellingen | NSW | W: bellowintermusic.com 11-14 Country Thunder Music Festivals | Saskatchewan Craven | Canada 11-14 Hats Off To Country | Tamworth | NSW | T: 0407 10 69 66 | E: info@hatsofftocountry.com | W: hatsofftocountry.com | CMAA Junior Academy, DAG Retreat, ABBA Fundraiser, TSA All Day concerts, CCMA Tribute Concert and many venues 16-18 Big Red Bash | Birdsville | Simpson Desert | Qld | Featuring Midnight Oil, Kasey Chambers, Busby Marou, | W: bigredbash.com 26-28 Hughenden CMF | Diggers Entertainment Centre | Hughenden | Qld | Contact Cecily Paul | M: 0428 411 258 | E: cecilypaul@bigpond.com | W: hughendencountrymusic.com 26-28 Groundwater CMF | Broadbeach | Gold Coast | T: 07 5656 0100 | W: goundwatercmf.com years of bringing you the music 1975–2019

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years of bringing you the music 1975–2019