We have put a lot of effort into bringing country out of its shadow and into a new and brighter light and I believe we have been very successful. Therefore, I thought I would do one of my last blogs on the success and progress country music has already achieved throughout the past to where it is now.
Before Tamworth got involved about four decades ago, country music was in a completely different world. There were only a few artists who ‘worked’ as country music artists. This is very different from the flourishing industry that is seen today. So even if country music isn’t as mainstream as we believe it should be, it has still made a huge success from where it originally started.
When “Country and Western” music started to emerge more, the media belittled it and people did not take it seriously. “Country music artists and writers weren’t given the recognition or respect they deserved and there was little thought given to anyone to helping new talent and building new opportunities for artists” (Ellis 2007). Since country music got this bad media coverage, it was very hard for an artist to get a gig at any club, restaurant, or bar, let alone a venue bigger than that. As well, no national event or organization brought country music together, so artists didn’t even really know each other.
Once Tamworth became involved, country music started to see changes. The first Golden Guitar Awards in 1973 brought a “powerful magnetic effect, pulling artists, fans, and media into a compact and focused environment where country music was not just a sideshow but dominated the entire scene” (Ellis 2007). This festival that started everything for country music is now rated in the top 10 music festivals in the world. A survey showed there were 75,000 visitors at the 2007 Festival and at least 31,000 of them going through the Information Centre. These numbers exclude the tens of thousands of local/regional fans who attended the festival.
From the beginning of this festival, a new country music industry grew rapidly. People, including media and record companies, started to look at country music differently and take it seriously. “By 1999, some 20 percent of adult Australians in a national survey said country music was their favourite music, while 37 percent said they enjoyed listening to it” (Ellis 2007). By this time, country music had grown from a genre that was considered a joke to a genre that was respected.
Many organisations, like ‘Tamworth Regional Council and Tourism Tamworth’ and ‘the Chamber of Commerce’, are now investing huge amounts of money into country music to keep it growing. As well, the CMAA started up because of the Tamworth people giving it a secure base to start out on and the College of Country Music is still very successful. Other small events have also flourished to help support country – Star Quest, Tamworth Songwriters Awards, Tamworth Independent Artists Recognition Awards, Country Capital Music Association Talent Quest, People’s Choice Awards, Telstra Road to Tamworth, Bush Laureate Awards, Golden Harmonicas and Golden Fiddle Awards, and many others. The Golden Guitar Wax Museum and Walk A Country Mile are exhibits that also help preserve and promote country music. Furthermore, we must not forget all the radio stations, magazines, bulletins, and internet websites that have come about for country music.
“It’s time to salute Tamworth and Australian country music. In the words of Graeme Connors iconic song which Slim sang with such feeling, “We’ve Done Us Proud!!!”” (Ellis 2007).
I was very surprised to find out that the Tamworth Festival is the biggest country music happening in the southern hemisphere and far bigger than any American event. This surprised me because based on all the research that I have now done on country music and just talking to other students I got an impression that country music was bigger and covered more by the media in the United States. As well, the Golden Guitar Awards are one of the longest running music recognition systems in Australia. It is even “acclaimed as one of the media events of the year” (Ellis 2007). However, with the festival and Awards program being so big in the world, I still wonder why country music does not get more media coverage in Australia – I still feel that it could be hi-lighted so much more.
Ellis, M. 2007, ‘We’ve Done Us Proud’, History of Country Music in Australia.
http://www.historyofcountrymusic.com.au/wevedoneusproud.html
-Natalie Boyce
