“It still makes me feel like a child, the feelings that I had like I’m going into a talent quest,” the 49-year-old singer and songwriter told the Leader.

“I still just think there’s stacks of magic here.”

Already in town for a week, he’s noticed morale has taken a hit with the drought and the parched lands that envelope the city.

“I feel for the people in the surrounding districts, I took a drive around the place,” he said.

“I still haven’t had the heart to go out to Keepit because I used to fish there as a young bloke and I think it would be a bit too depressing to out there just yet, knowing how low it is.”

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He remembers the days, long ago, when his mum and grandfather would say: “It’s always going to rain again”.

“And those storms that come around and tease us, it just sends me crazy to think we're not getting much rain out of them.

“I just know it's going to rain again and things will turn around, so we just have to live in hope.”

Often referred to as the nice guy in the country music industry, he gets one of the biggest kicks being a fan at the festival. 

“I've been quite inspired this year being a fan again, you know just sitting in the gigs and hanging and watching people, you've gotta do that,” Troy said.

“I went out and watched Slim Dusty's original band and I love catching when Bill's Chamber’s band [is playing] and it was on again and they spotted me in the crowd and we're all Slim Dusty fans at heart and before I knew it I was called up on stage to have a sing-a-long with the original Slim Dusty band.

“It's almost like a dream come true and you wouldn't have imagined that as a kid.

“Even now at 49, I still get moved, really motivated to get around to see things as a fan.”

He’ll play one show at TRECC on Thursday afternoon from 4pm. And while his show is one not too be missed, his picks for the festival?

“It ranges from Kevin Bennett and the Flood at the Tamworth Hotel, to the Vibe, there's a bad called The Vibe down there at The Albert who I love,” he said.

“I really love a little kid called Phoebe Jay, I caught up with her at the airport last year busking and she's a little heartbreaker, just talented as all hell. 

“And a young bloke called Jarrod Hickling who I saw at the college who I thought was fantastic, and the list goes on.”