The young singer-songwriter who grew up in Inverell, north of Tamworth, is now based in Sydney, so a trip to the festival in January means seeing family, just as much as it does playing music.

“For me it’s about family, it’s something I’ve done with my family for over 10 years, so mum and dad will be there,” Dyer said.

“I live in Sydney now so I don’t get to perform much where they can come along and watch.”

Dyer released her debut album, Fresh, last year in August, but before its release, two singles were released from the album.

The first single from the album was the title track Fresh, which was released in February and spent five consecutive weeks at the top of the Australian Country Air Play Chart.

While Fresh had a country pop style, Save My Cents, which dropped in July ahead of the album release, had a more raw sound, and it is that style that Dyer has her eye on for future releases.

“It’s got more of an earthy country feel, it’s more organically produced I guess,” Melanie said about the song she wrote on her own.

“It’s not steered towards the pop sound as much as Fresh was and people seem to say they prefer it.

“It’s definitely more honestly me as a writer, I just sat down in my bedroom and wrote that song, then recorded it with Michael Carpenter, and it’s pretty true to what it originally was.”

Dyer said the song had received a great repsonse from fans, with plenty of people telling her it’s their favourite track from her debut album.

It also reached the top of the country airplay charts.

“I’m definitely going to channel that style more in the future when I’m writing, because the response people have had to that has been really positive,” Dyer said.

Along with her album release last year, Dyer opened gigs as a support act for The McClymonts, and also played a run of shows on the east coast with good friend Caitlyn Shadbolt, who also had a debut album to promote.

During the festival Dyer will be playing three gigs with her band, playing at the Longyard on the first Saturday of the festival, the Courthouse Hotel on Wednesday then the Imperial Hotel on Friday.

On Tuesday night she will perform at Live & Loud in Bicentennial Park again, which she has been a part of each year since its inception.

The young singer will also be taking her guitar along to songwriting session at Southgate Inn on Wednesday.

Apart from that, there’s performances at Tamworth Shoppingworld a couple of times, as well as a FanZone appearance at 11.30am on the final Saturday, straight after the cavalcade.

Related stories: