There are a few things that stand out about this year at festival.
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It was insanely hot, and nearly every person we spoke to was looking for air con or an ice water for the entire 10 days. If you said “the heat is not so bad”, you are probably at the hospital about now. The second thing was that it seems the drought has made life tough for a lot of visitors, but the die-hard country fans still made the trip to see their favourite artists because they just love Tamworth.
Buskers are the heart of Tamworth. We have been told by people that have visited the festival for a long time that all the best artists have done their time in the sun. This year if you were a busker you deserve a medal or two. That midday sun on Peel Street was crazy!
Despite the weather, there were some great performers who were committed to the moment and we loved that! We thought that Rhys Crimmin, The Froombsons and rookie busker Imogen Hall really dug deep this year. Check ‘em out online and follow these stars of the future.
Getting into the big shows, apparently Keith Urban played at somewhere in town (Abbie wrote that) and he was awesome cause I went while Abbie couldn’t get tickets (Chelsea wrote that)!
The town was buzzing with our own country music superstar in town. By all accounts ‘Keithy Baby’ was amazing and made a bunch of dreams come true on the night. Tamworth is blessed to have people like him come back to play again.
Talking dreams, Toyota Star Maker was run and won for the 40th year! Blake O’Connor came, saw and sang his heart out to victory. It was one of the most even fields in recent history according to some of the Star Maker fans in the park who follow it every year. The world is Blake’s oyster now, at least for the next 12 months.
Even though I didn’t win this year, it was an amazing career moment getting to sing to that huge crowd in the park and I can’t argue that Blake was awesome. (Chelsea wrote this).
Onto the shows that made our week. This year we managed to get to a bunch of shows, and we even opened for a couple of Golden Guitar-winning artists. It was so cool!
If we have to name our highlights of course we would say opening for Jetty Road (Chelsea) and Kirsty Lee Akers (Abbie) because these shows were so amazing. We both played with artists we look up to, and they also hung out with us and gave us some great advice. It was such a career-changing experience.
We also thought that The Tamworth Opry, Country Under the Vines, Adam Brand’s Midnight Show, The Viper Creek Band at The Longyard and the 90’s Night at Moonshiners with Liam Brew and Travis Collins were epic! So many great artists and so many killer shows. They just got better and better. We could go on for hours.
Then to the business end of the week. The Golden Guitars came at us before we knew it. Time at festival goes so fast.
We got to walk the red carpet! This is every girl’s dream. To get dressed up and get invited to walk in front of music fans and the media who all want to take your photo. It was so scary, but so exciting at the same time, and neither of us tripped over or made a silly face (that we know of!).
The Golden Guitar awards are such a wonderful night. Even as an artist you get to see your heroes in every direction. What’s cooler is you get to chat to them and see how their festival has been.
At any moment, you might bump into Lee Kernaghan at the bar, Brooke McClymont in the bathroom checking her makeup, and you may even share a laugh with Beccy Cole over the finger food. It is just so surreal… but so awesome. At the end of the day everyone is a fan at some level right?!
The Wolfies totally owned the Golden Guitars. They so deserved it, great musicians, such a great album and some of the nicest people we have met during Tamworth.
We wrote this article a few hours after the after-party finished and we have started packing to head back home. What a wild ride hey, but what an amazing adventure. Thank you, Tamworth, we learned a lot, we loved a lot and we sweated a lot… But it was so worth it!
What a festival!!! Over and out …
Abbie and Chelsea
ABBIE (from Mallala, South Australia) by Abbie: This is my second Tamworth Country Music Festival and let me just say this, after last year I thought I was way better prepared for the heat. Boy was I wrong! Last year I learned so much, not only as a new artist, but also as a person. For an 18-year-old from a little town in South Australia, the Festival seems huge. But I’m no longer a rookie! This year I made lifelong friends, memories I will cherish forever, and learned how to “adult”. I have always heard Tamworth is one those amazing events you must experience for yourself, and I must agree, this year it was amazing!
CHELSEA (from Terrigal, NSW) by Chelsea: This is so cool, getting to share my Tamworth with everyone who reads The Leader, and with one of my best friends in music. There is no doubt this is my biggest Festival to date. I’ve had to pinch myself when I think about what has happened the last few years. This is my fifth year coming to Tamworth and it was one of the best one yet. I was thrilled to be a Grand Finalist in the Toyota Star Maker competition, and with the great performance spots I had during festival I am certain this year will be a career-changing one for me. Outside of the performances, the biggest part of this event for me is making new friends and catching up with old ones who come back year after year. This year was awesome.