THE Country Music Capital has four homegrown artists named in the finalists lineup yesterday for the next crop of Golden Guitars awards.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Country Music Association of Australia (CMAA) announced the finalists in the 41st annual Country Music Awards of Australia with Rex Dallas, Felicity Urquhart, Rae Moody from The Harmonators and Lawrie Minson finalists.
Rex is a finalist in Bush Ballad of the Year, Felicity is a finalist in Vocal Collaboration of the Year with Tamara Stewart and Sara Storer, Rae is a finalist as one half of The Harmonators in Vocal Group or Duo and Lawrie is a finalist in Instrumental of the Year with Lindsay Waddington.
Rae and her duo partner Liz Kinninmott, who lives in Sydney, said the finalist placing was surreal.
“You run through everybody in the categories and think we couldn’t be there with them,” she said.
“It got to the last category we’d nominated in and we thought we wouldn’t get anything. It’s totally amazing!”
Liz said it was a huge validation after they’d been working towards this for eight years.
With seven nominations each, Catherine Britt and Troy Cassar-Daley have the most chances to take home the gold.
Catherine said she was a singer/songwriter so she was always that artist that didn’t win so it was nice to get the nominations on an album she produced (her first time in the producer’s chair).
“The recognition is really enough,” she said.
Troy, who’d just stepped off the Cruisin’ Country cruise the day before the announcement, said
he was stoked by getting seven nominations.
“It’s just wonderful I can be doing this for 20 years and still get seven nominations,” he said,
He said it was also wonderful that he was able to go to Tamworth and Werris Creek to film the video for Country Is, which is a finalist in Video Clip of the Year.
The McClymonts, back in Australia after a year of international touring, are nominated for five Golden Guitars, as are Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson with Wreck & Ruin, their second offering as a duo.
Other multiple finalists are country music icons John Williamson and Colin Buchanan, each with four nominations. Sara Storer, in what has been a quiet year professionally, also has four nominations via her two prominent collaborations.
Harmony James, Tamara Stewart, Luke O’Shea, 2012 Toyota Star Maker winner Bob Corbett and hardworking video director Duncan Toombs are all nominated three times.
The New Talent category had the strongest group of nominees in many years and will be a hard one to pick. Bob Corbett, Chelsea Basham, Chris E Thomas, Harry Hookey and Kristy Cox are all outstanding new artists worthy of the recognition that comes with a Golden Guitar.
Equally hard to predict will be the outcome for the established nominees in what has been an exceptional year for Australian Country Music.
The 41st CMAA Country Music Awards of Australia will be staged at the Tamworth Regional Entertainment and Conference Centre on Australia Day, January 26, 2013.
