Tamworth Country Music Festival 2023: fan of fifty years Beverley Smith encouraging granddaughter to sing

Beverley Smith plans to still be enjoying the Tamworth Country Music Festival when she's 90.

The 77-year-old has lived in the country music capital for more than half a century, and used to go alone to the Golden Guitar awards when the ceremony was held in a tent in the showgrounds.

Back in the "good days", she would sit on the hill at the Longyard every Sunday during the festival, listening to the best of bluegrass, her favourite subgenre.

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"If I could afford, I'd go to the awards every year," she said.

"Going to the awards is a bit of cream, seeing how people react, and how they receive their Golden Guitars, and what they say in their speeches, and what they wear."

Ms Smith's granddaughter Emilee Wratten, who turned 10 a week ago, performed on stage with country musician Ashleigh Dallas as part of her singing troop, and is going to singing classes at the conservatorium.

Her desire to sing came about by coincidence, according to her grandmother.

"I always believed she needed a sport, a craft and probably a musical instrument," Ms Smith said.

So Emilee started guitar lessons with Brett Dallas.

Ms Smith would bribe her into practicing on Wednesdays, before her lessons the following day.

One lesson, after Emilee had refused to practice, she decided to hum the chords to bluff the fact that she didn't know them.

Brett said his daughter Ashleigh runs a singing course.

"She said, 'I don't want to learn guitar, I want to sing'," Ms Smith said.

"I should have learnt, you don't get your kids to do what you want them to do. They've got to make up their own mind.

"So she's made up her own mind about singing and we'll see where she goes."

Emilee was "quite interested" in country music during the festival.

After the two of them checked out the buskers on the street, they popped into Hungry Jacks, where a band was performing at random.

Emilee was handed an instrument, and played along with the impromptu performance.

Her granddaughter isn't deeply in love with country just yet.

"But she didn't dislike it," Ms Smith said.

"If singing comes about, I'd love to see her have a go at busking.

"That's where you start."

Although Ms Smith's kids laugh at her because they aren't country fans, she's committed to the genre.

"These locals that say 'I'm not going into town, I hate country music'," she said.

"They wouldn't know the first thing about it.

"You've got to get into it, get into the crux of it, there'd be something for everyone."

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