THIRTEEN years after he won Toyota Star Maker, Travis Collins emerged as a force in country music on Saturday night, picking up three Golden Guitars.
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With six nominations from his latest album Hard Light, the powerhouse performer took home awards for Male Artist of the Year, APRA AMCOS Song of the Year for Call Me Crazy (co-written with Damien Leith) and Single of the Year for Just Another Girl.
"I've always said that I had three parents growing up. There was mum, there was dad and there was country music," Collins said when accepting the award for Single of the Year, his first for the night.
"Some of the greatest things I've learnt in my life about ethics, values and family haven't only come from my family, but they've come from the songs that have raised me as well."
You could toss a coin to decide who had the better night between Collins, and the latest Roll of Renown inductee Troy Cassar-Daley.
When country music matriarch Joy McKean announced Cassar-Daley as the newest inductee, she said he had captured the hearts of Australians with his wonderful, engaging personality, his dedication to Australia and its people and his formidable skills as a writer and performer.
Cassar-Daley received a standing ovation as he made his way to the stage.
Along with that honour, he collected the final Golden Guitar of the night for Album of the Year for Things I Carry Around to cap off a memorable and emotional night.
That award was presented by The McClymonts and Governor-General, Sir Peter Cosgrove, who visited the festival over the weekend.
The Governor-General pleased the Golden Guitars crowd with his declaration that you would have to be a mug not to come to the Tamworth Country Music Festival.
Sara Storer collected two Golden Guitars from her six nominations bringing her career tally to 21.
Storer picked up Awards for Female Artist of the Year and Bush Ballad of the Year, with her song, Amazing Night.
The beautiful harmonies of trio Bennett, Bowtell & Urquhart also took home two awards with their self-titled album.
They first stepped up to the stage to accept the award for Country Music Capital News Group or Duo of the Year, then near the end of the night they were back again to collect Alternative Country Album of the Year.
Catherine Britt with Kasey Chambers, Beccy Cole, Lyn Bowtell, Josh Pyke, Wes Carr and Wendy Matthews took home the Regional Australia Bank Vocal Collaboration of the Year with the song F U Cancer.
The song followed Britt’s own battle with cancer, and meeting on the stage after the announcement, Britt, Chambers and Bowtell embraced before accepting the trophies.
One of the loudest roars of the night came with the announcement that Fanny Lumsden was the winner of Qantaslink New Talent of the Year.
Luke O’Shea, with his song The Old Man’s Shed, won Toyota Heritage Song of the Year, and Instrumental of the Year went to Stuie French for Song for Manaia.
Kristy Cox added to her Golden Guitar Awards with another win for Bluegrass Recording of the Year for Another Weary Mile.
Accepting the Golden Guitar, Cox, who is now based in Nashville, thanked the Country Music Association of Australia for including the category in the awards, pointing out that the American country music awards did not have a section just for bluegrass music.
CMC Video Clip of the Year went to husband and wife duo O’Shea for The Truth Walks Slowly (In the Countryside).
Accepting the award in a video message from Nashville, Mark O’Shea described the plight of George Bender, the farmer who took his own life in 2015 that the song is dedicated to as “bloody tragic”.
As O’Shea stated his concerns about CSG mining, which George had fought against for a decade, it drew a round of applause from the audience at the Tamworth Regional Entertainment and Conference Centre.
Keith Urban also accepted the Top Selling Album Golden Guitar via a video message from Nashville.
It was the one win known before the night.
The country superstar was named the winner of the 2017 Sanity Top Selling Australian Album of the year at the beginning of the month.
It was Urban’s 12th Golden Guitar win.
Glen Hannah was named Musician of the Year, while there was also an impressive tribute to those in the country music industry who passed away over the last year.
The night had kicked off with Mickey Pye’s instrumental Buckle Up before The McClymonts took the stage to perform their hit single House.
Luke O’Shea captivated the crowd with his stunning performance of The Old Man’s Shed followed by Kristy Cox with her Golden Guitar Award winning track Another Weary Mile.
Both the male and female artists winners performed award-winning songs, Just Another Girl and Amazing Night respectively, before Kasey Chambers and Bernard Fanning took the stage with their song Sooner or Later. The show also featured performances by New Talent of the Year contenders The Weeping Willows (River of Gold), Michael Waugh (Heyfield Girl), Fanny Lumsden (Land of Gold), Caitlyn Shadbolt (Running in Circles) and Justin Standley (Till the Buzzer Goes Off).
Other performers on the night included Bennett, Bowtell & Urquhart, who performed I Hear Them All and bush balladeers Anne Kirkpatrick and Jeff Brown who sang their duet Orchid Street, from Brown's latest album.
Adam Brand sang his latest hit, Get On Your Feet, and The Wolfe Brothers rocked the stage with Throw Em Back, while Chambers' performance of Ain’t No Little Girl was a show-stopper. Visiting Nashville comedy duo Doyle and Debbie Twang also performed, and Cassar-Daley sang the title track from his Album of the Year, Things I Carry Around.
Lee Kernaghan closed the show with The Outback Club Reunion.