"So... do you go to Tamworth?" It's usually the first thing people ask me when they learn that I sing country music.
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Well, either that or "Do you know (insert name of person's friend/cousin here)? She sings country, too."
I never understood why this Tamworth question kept coming up.
Until of course I went there, to the country music festival of 2008 and it changed my life completely.
I managed to place as a finalist in the Telstra Road to Tamworth competition.
That was the excuse I needed to grab some musician friends and finally set out on the 14-hour drive from Melbourne.
Convinced this first time was only going to be a practice run at the prize, I was hell bent on busking along the famous Peel St to try my luck there, too.
We set up and played five original songs and our rendition of Robert Palmer's "Bad Case of Loving You" on repeat for two days.
I had my homemade EPs proudly on display for sale.
We took 50 copies up with us and at the end of the festival, we took home 48.
Regardless, I felt like I was in a place where opportunity was ripe for the picking and dreams were more possible than ever before.
They read out my name as the winner of the Road to Tamworth that year and I've been writing, recording and releasing music ever since.
A whole new reason I head to Tamworth each year now, is to hang out with fans- the people who have supported me and my music since that very first year.
I do cheat and travel by plane though, I don't recommend the 14-hour drive.