Crediting the talent show with his ascent to fame, the 23-year-old now wants to forge his own path in music.

“I still have to drive myself around and make my own bed, a lot of people have this perception that it’s riches and fame and hanging out with Beyonce,” he said.

“I get to make music now and sing in front of people whereas before I spent a lot of time playing for other people and now really getting to sing and I got comfortable with that.

“The Voice definitely helped with changing the situation I was in but now I get to sing and call the shots.”

The country music singer is releasing his second album Real Good Time, inspired by both country and soul.

The new album is an expression of who he truly is, Kelly said, after listening to at least 150 tracks - the two that he shortlisted never made the album.

“If it’s a cool groove that grabs my attention I’ll listen a bit longer but it’s usually the lyrical content that inspires me - I want something a bit deeper,” he said.

“When I was growing up a lot of soul music is what influenced me and I got into country when I was about 12.”

Attending Tamworth’s own CMAA Academy of Country Music three times before he made it big, Kelly credits the school with preparing him for what life is like behind the scenes.

There’s a lot that’s common sense, but music management is an area that he knew little about he said.

“From dealing with management and agencies, I didn’t have management before the show so I was put into it really quickly and I think if someone didn’t have knowledge of that, that’s where things can go bad really fast,” he said.

“The academy teaches you all about that stuff, even booking in to do music videos - I think just having that knowledge beforehand really did help.”

With only one show at this year’s Tamworth Country Music Festival, Kelly hopes the slow pace will give him an opportunity to really experience the event.

Last year he performed 12 gigs and the year before that more than 25.

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“It gives me the chance to actually see other people that I want to see, because every year at the festival I don’t get to have that experience,” he said.

“I know for myself it’s where I catch up with people I haven’t seen all year, that’s why I love the festival so much - obviously there’s good music and I’ve been every year since 2011.

“Just the fact that you get to catch up with people you haven’t seen since the year before in Tamworth I think is really cool.”

Judah Kelly is only playing one show at TCMF 2019 at The Albert Hotel on January 21 at 4:30pm.

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