O'Shea added to his Golden Guitar collection after he won Heritage Song of the Year with Old Man's Shed on Saturday night in Tamworth. This is his fourth win the category.

“I am absolutely chuffed with the win – it was a magic moment,” he said. “I was absolutely stoked to share that with such a great bloke, Johnny Krsulja.”

The singer-songwriter said the reaction to the song had transcended what the two mates had set out to write.

“It is a special song in the way it affects people,” O'Shea said.

"We feel it every time we play it. It seems most people can relate to this song on some level and to see grown men and women tear up but then be able to leave them with a laugh or a smile - all within three and a half minutes - is extremely special. I've written a lot of songs over the years - but I've never seen a song that connects on such a deep level so quickly - I'm just so glad that John and I were there in that room to catch it."

School mates O'Shea and Krsulja have known each other for 40 years and wrote Old Man's Shed during The Dag Sheep Station's Songwriters' Retreat in Nundle, south-east of Tamworth.

Krsulja dedicated his win to singer-songwriter Karl Broadie who lost a short battle with cancer in April last year.

Broadie had predicted Krsulja would win a Golden Guitar.

“I loved the way John spoke and the way he brought Karl Broadie into that moment was particularly special because he was a big part of both our lives, particularly in encouraging John,” O'Shea said.

The Golden Guitar win wrapped up another successful Tamworth Country Music Festival for O'Shea who now heads to Tasmania for a short tour with recent CMAA Academy of Country Music graduate Chris Matthews from Western Australia.

“I'm looking forward to absorbing the scenery, the beauty and the people of such a great part of Australia,” O'Shea said.

“It will be fun sharing the road with a great mate, Chris Matthews. We both love the road and the characters we meet along the way – that's where we get our inspiration from and hopefully there will be a few tales there and we can sing up Tasmania.”