Golden Guitar Awards tickets now on sale
How appropriate that the first country music item I write since winding up my Country Music Notes column in The Northern Daily Leader on June 9 is about the Toyota Golden Guitar Awards tickets going on sale.
I’ve always loved Tamworth and the festival – and as Normie Rowe once said – visiting the Tamworth Country Music Festival is one of the top three things all Australians should do at least once in their lifetime.
The Toyota Golden Guitar Awards are the ultimate accolade you can receive in Australian country music. You can’t do much better than to accept one of these gems, apart from being elevated to the Australasian Country Music Roll of Renown, but you need to have some runs on the board for that honour.
The Golden Guitars concert and presentation night will be held on Saturday, January 28, 2017 at Tamworth Regional Entertainment and Conference Centre (TRECC).
The awards’ 45th staging will be presented by Tamworth Regional Council and it’s the grand finale of 10 days of festive fun, games and music by the bucket-load.
If you haven’t been to the awards, you really should put it on your bucket list. It’s an entertainment event, with the accompanying concert and seeing all the stars up close.
But I reckon there’s nothing quite like being there in the audience when one of your favourites is announced the winner. It’s absolute gold – and a memory you will cherish forever.
Tickets start at $45 during the early-bird period, which is great value for money – but you only have until September 30 to get in on this great deal. Full price tickets go on sale from October 1.
Early-bird tickets to the awards can be purchased if you Click Here!
Patsy is alive and well in Proserpine
I attended a fabulous show in Proserpine last week – Always … Patsy Cline, starring Courtney Conway as Patsy and Mandi Lodge as Louise Seger, Patsy’s greatest fan.
The Ted Swindley creation is now touring Australia and is so much more than a tribute show to Patsy.
It’s based on a true story of Patsy’s friendship with a fan from Houston, Texas, from the time they met in a Texas honky tonk in 1961 until Patsy’s tragic death in a plane crash in 1963.
Mandy Barnett, who often sits in with The Time Jumpers at 3rd and Lindsley in Nashville, plays the part of Patsy in the Nashville production of this show.
I lost count of the Patsy classics Courtney sang during the night, but they included mega-hits Crazy, I Fall to Pieces, Sweet Dreams, Walking After Midnight and about 20 others.
Expat Nashvillean Ross Sermons, who now makes his home in Tasmania, is musical director and plays bass in the band, which can have two or more players, depending on the location and musician availability.
Mandi is hilarious as Louise, and both she and Courtney carry off their roles with infinite professionalism and style.
You’ll bust a gut laughing at some of the lines “Louise†comes out with – and don’t be surprised if you, as an audience member, become part of the show.
It’s coming to the Capitol Theatre, Tamworth, on Wednesday, August 31, and should not be missed under any circumstances.
It’s heading to venues in NSW, Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania and WA before taking a break in late November, before resuming touring in the new year.
Courtney has a full list of tour dates for the production on her Facebook page which you can access if you just click this link: Courtney’s Facebook Page
Original Australian music
Heard a pretty cool sound this week from William Crighton – his new single called 2000 Clicks.
I think Marty Jones of Rhythms magazine got it right when he said: “… original Australian voices should be celebrated and supported with all we have. Here is one to rally behind without reservationâ€.
Crighton sets the scene in the first line of the song: “2000 Clicks from the Queensland border, lying in a ditch out west of Waggaâ€.
The single is accompanied by a music video directed by Crighton, his wife Julieanne and drummer and collaborator Reuben Alexander.
Crighton’s journey started in the Riverina and has taken him around the world, with extensive time spent in the USA and China.
Returning to Australia, he settled momentarily on the rugged banks of Burrinjuck Dam, near the South West Slopes region of NSW.
There he recorded his self-titled debut album which is said to be a stirring songbook that captures the essence of our continent whilst exploring the variables of life.
I’d like to have a listen to that. Perhaps you would, too …
Cool new duo makes history
Esteemed country artist Warren H Williams has teamed with rising star Dani Young to create a special album, Desert Water.
The duet album is a unique collaboration featuring world-class original songs.
They chose iconic Nashville-based Grammy award-winning producer Billy Yates to produce the album.
It’s being widely touted as the first musical union of an indigenous and non-indigenous singing duo recorded in America’s Country Music Capital.
Two Ships, the first single, has an accompanying clip you can enjoy at the following link:
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A man of many talents
Warren H Williams is an Aranda man and one of Australia’s most decorated Aboriginal artists.
He’s the son of trailblazing indigenous singer-songwriter Gus Williams.
A man of many talents, Warren H holds the distinction of writing the first ever Central Australian Indigenous musical, Magic Coolamon.
He’s also written and directed episodes of the Aboriginal television series, Our Place.
An old hand at inspirational collaborations, Williams was on the receiving end of ARIAs and Golden Guitars for his work with John Williamson in the stunning duet, Raining on the Rock.
In what’s viewed as a musical match meant to be, Williams and Young took less than a year to write, record and produce their distinctive duet album.
Their union is described as “a meeting of complementary opposites†– desert man Williams and city girl Young and their differences in age and experience appear to have formed a perfect musical match.
They bring life to the songs, hashing them out from ideas Influenced by the Central Australian desert and the importance of appreciating the land and the precious gift of water.
Young is a talented and evocative writer in her own right, bringing a musical style far beyond her years.
Watch for tour dates click the link for Warren H. William’s Facebook page
The year of the Wolfe
A band of brothers from Tasmania reckon it’s the year of the Wolfe – and for Nick and Tom Wolfe and their best mate, Brodie Rainbird, there’s every chance they’re right.
Their new album, This Crazy Life has just been released and the first single and title track has already made a noise on the charts.
It’s #6 on the Australian country charts and climbing, and #8 on the CMC charts.
The Wolfe Brothers spent three months in Nashville writing and fine tuning the new disc, recording it under the guidance of acclaimed producer Luke Wooten (Dierks Bentley, Brad Paisley and Kellie Pickler).
The Wolfe Brothers will soon be touring widely. Check out their tour dates by clicking the link: The Wolfe Brothers Website
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