As a first blog entry for me, ever, I thought I would start with something very prominent in the Australian country music industry – The Tamworth Country Music Festival.
Personally I have never really been a lover of country music. To tell the truth I have actually always found it rather boring. The singers always seem to be singing from their nose (e.g. Kasey Chambers) and the twang of the guitars often sounds like a small animal is being strangled. However, recently a close friend of mine moved to Tamworth, and his family is about as ‘country bumpkin’ as you can get. Infact, we had a combined party once and his contribution to the food was a real ‘pig on a spit’ (home made spit may I add, with the bicycle wheel to turn the meat and everything). So, because my friendship tree branches now extend to the country music capital of Australia, I thought it was about time that I discover what is so appealing about country music, and I have to say, I am actually loving it. My appreciation of the unique sounds of country has grown 100%. That twang I once hated, is now infact my favourite part, and that nasal sound, well some of my growing favourite country artists belong to the nasal club.
Although I am slowly becoming a fan of this country genre of music, up until the Country Music Festival I was only a real fan of the mainstream country, that is the Keith Urban club. Although Keith Urban is undoubtedly a country singer, I would argue that his music really branches out into the pop/rock genre of mainstream, top 100 music. So although I can say that I listen to country, I don’t think it really counts as being a hard core country music junkie yet. So with this in mind, I went along to the festival earlier this year, to find out what it really meant to be ‘country‘. I bought the gig guide prior to heading out to Tamworth and it came with a free CD, so I felt in the mood and ready for some boot scootin’.
Firstly, the atmosphere is something that I have never felt before. Cowboy hats as far as they eye can see. Inside and outside. Its not just a practical sun shading tool but a fashion statement (although I think a lot of the hat wearers were ‘try hards’. I don’t really thing the fluffy pink cowboy hats with ‘princess’ written on them, really counts as country). There were Police on horse back, streets blocked off for the countless country buskers, bucking bull rides at every corner, and an array of akubra and belt stores selling all of the stereotypical Australian products you could ever dream of. Attending the festival, I felt truly Australian. I have always put down the stereotypical view of Australians as these ocker larrikins who say ‘G’day’ and ‘Mate’, but in the heart of Tamworth, I found myself loving the very thing that I have criticized in the past. I can definitely see the attraction.
The festival went between the 18th to the 27th of January this year (and if you count the ‘Festival Countdown’, then it started on the 11th). Throughout the festival there was an impressive array of Australian talent. Singers that everyone knows of, even if they have never heard their music, singers like Adam Brand, Adam Harvey, Beccy Cole, Lee Kernaghan, Melinda Schneider, and Troy Cassar-Daley. Unfortunately, all the most popular and well known artists were early on in the festival and I only went for the last few days (24th till 27th), however this gave me a rare chance to see some of the lesser known artists. Usually I stick to the top 30, or the popular music, but because beggars cant be choosers, I saw what was available, which was by no means a bad thing.
Apart from random street performers and a few pub bands, there were a few performances that really stood out to me. The first was actually the first band I saw at the festival – “Luke O’Shea and Medicine Wheel”. I hadn’t previously heard any of their songs never mind even knowing their name, but I have to say I was extremely impressed. When I go to concerts I usually judge my enjoyment by how much I can sing along, so heading into a band with no prior song knowledge, well lets just say I was less that optimistic about my enjoyment. However, from the second they started, they really captured the audience. Everyone was up dancing, with a few drunken idiots stealing the show (but then again, we were in a bar called the ‘Bundy Bar’, so what can you expect?). Their songs had a great beat and there was variety, not simply just one type of song that they felt was their comfort zone. Afterwards, I actually got to meet the band members too, not as exciting to me as meeting a band such as Bon Jovi, but it was still fun. It was one of those a ‘friend of a friend of mine’ sort of introductions (everyone seems to know everyone in the country which is a spectacular quality that I sorely miss in Newcastle), and the band members were extremely nice. They took us up on stage and let us play around with some of the instruments, and were generally very friendly. They put on quite a long show too. Starting at about 7:30pm and finishing around 11pm. They sold their CDs at then end of the set too, but we didn’t need to pay, we were in with the band so we got ours for free! Always an A+ when you get free merchandise.
The next band that deserves a notable mention is “Bolton“, who we actually saw twice. They played at the Coyote Ugly bar, and I was at Tamworth with a group of about 4 guys so you can guess why we kept going back to that particular bar! I can tell you, it probably wasn’t for the music. Bolton didn’t really concentrate on playing their own songs but were more of a cover band, and much to my excitement, yes they did play some Keith Urban. Even though they were only covers though, they did put their own unique spin on some of the songs. They had the crowd pumping and I have to admit, I tried some line dancing moves out to a few of the tunes. They really captured their audience. They were performers, not just a band. They included the crowd and we really fed off their energy, something that is rarely seen in a simple small pub band.
So, Tamworth Country Music Festival. Did a country music critic like myself find anything at all that I could even remotely enjoy? That would be a big Ye’Haw and a Yes! The atmosphere, the music, the hats, everyone and everything played into the Australian stereotype and I loved it. And after coming home did the Country Music Festival change my life? Well maybe not my life, but definitely my respect for the genre. As we have stated in our first post, this is a relatively un-popular genre (unless you’re in Tamworth or Nashville in the USA, or some other country livin’ town), but after actually becoming involved with not only the music but the whole craze, I am a new fan. Perhaps not die hard enough to have a ‘pig on a spit’ every Sunday night, but I do own my own cowboy hat now (its brown, not pink, so don’t worry), and I now own about 5 country CD’s (not including Keith Urban). So my CD collection is growing, not only in length but in diversity, something that I would recommend for everyone.
And one last little ending note for you all. I was listening to the music on the free CD that came with the Tamworth Festival Guide. One song called “Super Cool Crocodile” is actually by a guy I went to high school with – Ryan Sampson, who I didn’t realise was a singer, especially not a country singer. So if you ever find it, give it a listen, in case he’s famous one day, you can say you know him by association.
By Jacki Tipton
