It’s country music time!
Here’s all the news from Day 6 of Tamworth Country Music Festival 2017!
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7.00pm: That’s all from us today everyone. Join us again tomorrow for more Tamworth Country Music Festival news.
6.53pm: Lee Kernaghan plays the first concert in his 25th Anniversary Tour tonight, when he plays at TRECC.
“I’m filled with an enormous sense of gratitude whenever I get out on stage and see a whole bunch of people that have come out to see the show and sing along to the songs.”
6.38pm: Not long now, until Melinda Schneider comes to town!
6.18pm: What an amazing surprise!
6.07pm: Newcastle’s Jacob Ridgeway is one of the very talented buskers at TCMF… What do you think? Cast your vote and see the others here.
5.42pm: Seems like an awesome way to spend Australia Day!
5.23pm: What a dream come true for these two buskers!
5.15pm: Just one of the perks of being a queen….
5.00pm: It was 30 years ago that an eleventh hour decision saw James Blundell enter the Toyota Star Maker competition and take out the title.
Now three decades on and with new album Campfire in tow, the Australian country music veteran is celebrating his career with fans at the Tamworth Country Music Festival.
4.50pm: Something tells us this dancer doesn’t need to read Simon’s how to dance column…
4.28pm: Now if this isn’t the most Australian thing out, we don’t know what is.
4.09pm Barnaby Joyce shows NSW Deptuy Premier and Nationals leader John Barilaro around Tamworth.
What!? A journalist who can't dance? It's a shock, I know, but it's true.
So for everyone out there who has two left feet – don’t worry, because Simon McCarthy has you covered.
3.15pm: With all that’s happening around this year’s festival, we might need to join you for that nap Kasey!
2.58pm: Don't miss Kaylens Rain tonight at the Longyard Hotel! They've been rocking Tamworth Country Music Festival all week. The show starts at 5pm!
2.38pm: It’s that time of the day again! It’s time to cast your vote on your favourite busker.
2.17pm: Kalesti Butler is one of many artists to bring exciting new material to the 2017 Tamworth Country Music Festival.
The singer songwriter will launch her second album Airborne at the South Tamworth Bowling Club on Friday, January 27, from 10am.
2.00pm: Check out the crowd watch the Wolfe Brothers!
And they’re so good, here’s another take:
With only $9 in pocket change between them, they split a pizza and looked down Tamworth's busy Peel St, hoping that one day they'd make it big.
And boy did they make it big!
13.25pm: Wow. Just, wow.
13.15pm: How good is day six turning out to be? See how the Country Musical Festival is playing out on Instagram!
12.55pm: Tonight’s the night! Who’s looking forward to the Bush Balladeers?
12.30pm: There’s a reason why Mitch King was named the 2016 Toyota Busking Champion….
12.05pm: There’s no doubt that the Country Music Festival is the moment for the Golden Guitar to shine, but there’s a new giant monument in town.
What do you think of Tamworth’s giant Big Mac? Tell us here.
11.43am: Amber Lawrence might just be one of the busiest artists at this year’s Tamworth Country Music Festival.
With a new album, Happy Ever After, in tow, fans can expect some new material from Lawrence at this year’s big event, along with some old favourites.
11.29am: McClymonts fans, who’s excited for the big show tonight?!
11.01am: Want to relieve the magic which was Live and Loud at Toyota Park? Check out our gallery from last night’s amazing performance.
10.42am: We interrupt this live blog with an important message… from Adam Brand.
10.25am: Another signature to add to the collection!
10.10am: Hi everyone! Amy here. Welcome to day six of the Tamworth Country Music Festival – can it get any better?!
For those wanting to head down to the Fanzone stage today, here’s what awesome acts it has on offer.
10am:
It was just the shot in the arm the Tamworth Red Cross was after.
Historically, the Tamworth Country Music Festival has been a low-point for the blood service, with critical donations dropping by around 50 per cent.
9.45am: Manilla’s Australia Day ambassador is kicking off the celebrations early, broadcasting a live TV show from the town’s post office on Wednesday night, and he wants the town’s residents to come along.
9.30am: Day five still a blur? All good, check out the great photos from The Leader’s photographers, right here.
9.15am
Our reports have just returned from the Riverside camping grounds, and look who we found.
8.45am:
A framed Maton guitar, autographed by Travis Collins, has sold for $6000 at auction during the festival.
In a fundraiser for Ronald McDonald House, Country Under the Vines, the signed guitar was the highest selling item and was bought by a local bidder.
Other items to go under the hammer included a signed Keith Urban guitar, which went for $2200, a framed CD and photo of Alan Jackson sold for $800, and a Taylor Swift framed CD and photo fetched $700.
8.30am: It appears the lovely Rachael Fahim was happy with making our front page!
8.15am:
The McClymonts have some special news about today’s edition of The Leader. Can you guess what it is ?
8am:
He has a new album that’s been 20-years in the making. Matt Henry finally picked up the guitar again, and this is what happened.
7.45am: In other news, police are on the hunt for a man after an officer was allegedly assaulted when attending a brawl in Tamworth.
7.30am: There was a gala dinner held in Tamworth last night, the first of its kind. Our Facebook account was hacked by country star Hayley Jensen. Here’s who was on the red carpet.
7.15am: Thousands packed into Toyota Park last night for the Telstra Live and Loud concert – it was certainly one to remember, here’s the photos below.
7am: Good morning country music fans! But seriously, where did those Festival days go?
What’s making headlines
Remember this name: El Cosgrove
She is a rising country music star from Queensland’s Darling Downs and at this year’s festival, El Cosgrove will launch her debut EP.
Guitars and Cigars is a collection of songs close to Cosgrove’s heart and the 2016 CMAA Academy of Country Music graduate is gearing up for a big festival ahead. Read El’s story.
The five things you need to see today:
Weather report
Did you know: On average, today has been a cooler day of the festival, historically.
What to expect today
On this day in country music …
1941: Born on this day, near New Albany, Mississippi, was Bobby Wood, session musician and songwriter most famous for his work as the Memphis Boys keyboardist. He wrote Crystal Gayle's "Half The Way" and Ronnie Milsap's "He Got You," and plays on Elvis Presley’s “In the Ghetto”, “Suspicious Minds” and "Always On My Mind.".
2010: Reba McEntire was at #1 on the Country singles chart with "Consider Me Gone" a song written by Steve Diamond and Marv Green and the second single from her thirty-third studio album Keep On Loving You. The song became McEntire's thirty-fourth #1 single and is also her longest-lasting chart topper at four weeks.