TAMWORTH festival favourites The Bushwackers are back with their new album, Songbook 3, and they’ll be bringing the bush, beach and chardonnay with them.

They will launch Songbook 3 on Friday, January 25 at the Longyard Hotel and party appropriately.

“It’s some old favourites that we had on the list to do for ages and there’s also a couple of new songs  that have been written about people we have met,” lead man Dobe Newton said.

“Clare O’Meara is making her vocal recording debut with The Bushwackers on this one too. We’ve also recorded a song by Alistair Hewlett who formed a version of The Pogues punk folk band in the 1980s in Sydney and passed away a few years ago. He was a committed activist and wrote a wonderful song about the English testing their atomic bombs at Maralinga. We’re proud to do that song because he was an unsung hero of ours.”

The festival is going to be a big one for the group because, as well as launching their latest album, Dobe is captaining the Country Music Allstars barefoot bowls team for charity early on in the festival. They’re hosting a bush dance at the Town Hall, celebrating with their Crazy Beach Party on Saturday, January 19 at The Longyard and closing their celebrations with their annual Chardonnay Show on Sunday, January 27.

They’ll also be getting the crowds ready for the CMAA Country Music Awards of Australia with their pre-awards show on Australia Day also at The Longyard.

The bush dance began in Tamworth a few years ago because Bushwackers fans pestered the band.

“People had been pestering us to have a go and we’d never know until we try so we held it and it’s been very popular,” Dobe said.

“There are generations of people dancing together, which is lovely stuff.”

It’s been a tradition for diehard festival fans to farewell the music with the Chardonnay Show and this year the Bushwackers will, as usual, have a few special guests joining them for the farewell.

“The Perch Creek Family Jug Band and Mustered Courage will be playing on Chardonnay Show as well this year,” Dobe said.

Catch The Bushwackers in full flight this festival.