An album, which has been recorded in tribute to the late showman Brian Young, will be launched at the Hats Off to Tamworth Festival in July.
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Brian passed away on May 14 last year year, and since then there have been plans for both a tribute album and a bronze bust of the late singer.
Samantha Hart is the daughter of Bob Howson, who toured with Youngie in the early 1980s.
She has been the driving force behind plans for a memorial CD, which will include artists who toured with The Brian Young Show, along with several of Brian’s own songs.
She spoke to Talkin’ Country this week and said plans were coming along for a bronze bust, as well as the launch of the tribute album.
Titled Outback Run, the album features songs by Freddy Bowen, Brett Clarke, JB Douglas, Bob Howson, Kate Daniel, Luella Widt, Roger Knox, Tommy Miller and several other artists who toured with Brian.
Another artist, Chalkie Wright, has been helping with the album and despite battling cancer, is hoping to play at the launch.
Producer Steve Newton from Enrec Studios has been working on the album, while photographer Jake Lindsay provided the cover photo.
For many years The Brian Young Show toured Australia, going to remote communities in the outback, hence the name of the tribute album.
Before his country music career, Brian became a legend on the Australian rodeo scene in the 1950s and ’60s, competing all over the country.
In 1961, Brian kicked off his recording career with his own composition, Black Man Jacky Jacky, released on W&G Records.
He went on to record for EMI then Opal Records, and in 1978 was inducted into Hands of Fame Park.
In 1991 he won a Golden Guitar for Thistles on the Hillside, and at the end of the decade he was elevated to the Roll of Renown in 1999.
The launch of Outback Run will take place at Tamworth City Bowling Club on July 8 during the Hats Off festival.
Samantha said the launch will include performances by many of the artists on the tribute album.
Troy Cassar-Daley was one artist who toured with The Brian Young Show in the early 1990s, and he has put up a signed Takamine guitar as a major raffle prize as fundraising continues to erect the bronze bust of Brian in Bicentennial Park.