THE BULLOCK driver and blacksmith were some of Angus Gill's closest friends in the colonial sawmill village of Timbertown.
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Growing up in Wauchope, he nabbed his first job at the theme park when he was just a 10-year-old, singing Click Go the Shears and Waltzing Matilda.
Years on the former bush balladeer has just wrapped up his first album Welcome to My Heart.
"Timbertown is where I really cut my teeth on country music and Aussie bush songs," Gill said.
"Over the years I went on tour with Troy Cassar-Daley when I was quite young and I suppose I changed my style to appeal to the crowds I was playing.
"That's one of my biggest strengths, I know how to read a crowd."
He's come a long way since his first band, Angus Gill and the Wild Turkeys, with a far more mature sound and message.
A conversation with Grammy-winner Lisa Loeb inspired his first single Welcome to My Heart, that unusually features a Greek bouzouki as the lead instrument.
The pair were talking about how there's plenty of songs about break-ups but not enough about platonic love in country music.
That's one of my biggest strengths, I know how to read a crowd.
- Angus Gill
"Welcome to My Heart is a bit eclectic, I bought in Sydney a couple of years ago because it had a really interesting sound to it, like a mandolin but deeper," he said.
"It's kind of edgy-country, not pop or rock or totally traditional."
The song was produced and mixed by Gill and features ACM Award winner Ilya Toshinsky on banjo, Susie Ahern on backing vocals, Cameron Bruce on Hammond B3 organ and Stuie French on guitar.
Shot at his own house in Wauchope, the video clip is a nod to Gill's strong family values.
"We didn't even tell the family we were shooting a clip we told them to come along for a casual Friday lunch," he said.
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"We've been through a rough trot with both my grandma and nan being diagnosed with early stages of Alzheimer's, so to have them in the clip is really important to me and I'll have that with me forever."
Gill will launch his new album at Tamworth's Citysider on September 21.
"I have a letter from John Williamson from years ago that reads, 'Don't think you have a great song until your audience tells you so'," he said.
"Country music is all about connecting with other people."
Madeline Link
Madeline Link is a journalist at the Newcastle Herald, with a focus on Lake Macquarie City Council. To keep up with my stories, follow my Twitter @madeline_link, for tips email madeline.link@newcastleherald.com.au.
Madeline Link is a journalist at the Newcastle Herald, with a focus on Lake Macquarie City Council. To keep up with my stories, follow my Twitter @madeline_link, for tips email madeline.link@newcastleherald.com.au.
