The Latest Edition of Capital News Hits The Newsagents
Highlights from another news and feature packed issue of Australia’s country music monthly – Capital News.
Produced by Rural Press in Australia’s Country Music Capital, Tamworth, Country Music Capital News is Australia’s longest running monthly Country Music magazine featuring news from all over Australia and from around the world.
Capital News carries the latest news, views, CD reviews, gig guides, charts and interviews and is considered to be the voice of Australian Country Music.
Promotions
Capital News, Tamworth
Submitted by Lachie Davidson
The 2010 CMAA Australian National Bluegrass Championships were held on Sunday, 24th January at 11:00am at Wests’ Diggers during the annual 10 day Tamworth Country Music Festival.
The Bluegrass Championships staring out in 1979 as part of the Tamworth festival, and were reinstated in 2008 after a nine year absence. With the assistance of Rod McCormack, the CMAA and Fender Australia donating the prizes, we can look forward to the growth of Bluegrass in Australia and more young players coming to the forefront.
The championships have always attracted great crowds and over the years it has been a platform for young musicians to be noticed and compete for the titles. Previous winners have gone on to win Golden Guitars, tour with major touring acts in Australia and overseas and even become finalists in the Grammy Awards.
2010 Bluegrass Championship Winners:
Mandolin – Lachlan Davidson
Guitar – Rob Long
Fiddle – George Jackson
Banjo – George Jackson
Encouragement Award – Peter Cooper
Bluegrass News
Tamworth
What is Country Music?
The age old debate over what does or does not constitute country music continues throughout the nation and more particularly in Tamworth this past week. Indeed there was much debate about the music content of the festival in various media reports last week, even prompting this year’s Golden Guitar winner, Troy Casser-Daley to tell the audience to enjoy the music, whatever it is.
On the same note, Toowoomba-based music industry photographer and writer delivered a lecture at the Australian Country Music Hall of Fame which he named Let’s Get Real: the Need for Authenticity in Australian Country Music.
…there’s still some great country music, but it’s become overwhelmed by stuff that is just ordinary. It’s not rocket science, it’s country and it’s music. There has to be some sort of connection with the country for it to have meaning.
…mediocrity in country music can almost be traced to the day Slim died. Slim was a shining light. Everyone aimed at being that good, that credible and that authentic. Since Slim died, it’s almost like the day the music died.
I feel the essence of the music slipping away, in the past 10 years has become very ordinary. Country music has always had respect for what’s come before. Without that respect, it becomes very bad pop music - John Elliott.
While the debate would seem to be without and, perhaps the laws of supply and demand might prevail and allow the market to determine what they want to listen to.
The debate aside, there are far more important issues to be raised:
The news of who won which Golden Guitar award at this year’s Tamworth ceremony has made national news. Meanwhile, bluegrass music fans across the nation wait for news on who took out the Bluegrass fiddle, banjo, guitar and mandolin championships for 2010. Unless you were there last Sunday to witness the event, the results would appear to be a well kept secret. In fact the CMAA’s website is so far behind the news that it is still offering to sell tickets to an event that has since passed. Where are their priorities?
Websites are wonderful resources when they are current and a source of frustration when they are out of date.
Article
Tamworth
Sunday, 24th January at 11am at Wests’ Diggers
The Australian National Bluegrass Championships in Tamworth had its origins in 1979 and have attracted Australia’s best pickers, all competing to become the national bluegrass flat pick guitar, mandolin, banjo or fiddle champion.
The majority of the previous winners are now at the forefront of our country music industry – performing in the best bands, with all our major artists, and playing on the finest of our Australian country albums.
The Championships were the single most driving factor for the emergence of such great musical talent through the eighties and early nineties.
The 2010 CMAA Australian National Bluegrass Championships will be held on Sunday, 24th January at 11am at Wests’ Diggers. Tickets are on sale now at www.wtlc.com.au Tickets are $25.00 and $20.00 concessions.
Bluegrass News, Events
Tamworth
Tamworth Country Music Festival Golden Guitars.
Davidson Brothers, Hamish and Lachlan have been nominated for two awards at the 2010 Tamworth Country Music Festival’s Golden Guitar Awards. Nominations are for Vocal Group of the Year and Best Instrumental of the Year.
The next stage of judging is done by members of the Country Music Association of Australia. If you wish to get involved and vote in the awards in 2010, simply contact the CMAA and apply to become a member as soon as possible.
Artists
Davidson Bros, Tamworth
Karen Lynne to Launch “Wishing Well”
Karen Lynne will officially launch her new album Heart Songs in a bluegrass concert scheduled for Friday, 22nd January, 10am, at the Tamworth Community Centre, Darling Street, Tamworth, (Heritage Room)
Entry is free. (Gold Coin Donation if you want to help cover room hire).
I am currently in the studio working on my next album, a country album called Heart Songs. We will make pre-release copies available to those that would like them, so please keep in touch. It’s as country as,.. ‘Cow poo’ and you can’t get much countrier than that. It’s also gorgeous and allows me a gentle return to that lovely traditional country that I have always loved. If you loved Second Wind you’ll love this one more. It has all the sweetness and gentleness of the way ‘real’ country music is supposed to sound,.. yep!, without even a hint of crossover country/pop or country rock (which always sounds like rock to me). That, along with Australia’s best musicians, some of the best (& most familiar) country songs ever written and Herm Kovac’s magic at the producing desk, this is a real winner. This album is also different to my others in that it is full of well known songs – rather than new ones,.. although there’s a few you won’t have heard too. Karen Lynne
Bluegrass News, Events
Karen Lynne, Tamworth
25 Years as part of the Tamworth Country Music Festival
Karen Lynne is to celebrate 25 years at the Tamworth Country Music Festival with a free concert to include guest artists, giveaways, prizes, and lots of fun.
Thursday, 21st January, 2:00pm at the Tamworth Community Centre, Darling Street, Tamworth, (Heritage Room)
Bluegrass News, Events
Karen Lynne, Tamworth
Australian and New Zealand Awards
Here’s an award which I had never heard of until tipped of by Andrew Clermont this week, who happens to be one of the Award’s directors.
The Golden Fiddle Awards is the first awards system embracing all musical styles, which focuses on nurturing, supporting and rewarding the wealth of violin playing, performance and composing talent in Australia and New Zealand.The awards aim to recognise players, composers and teachers of classical, folk, rock, jazz, punk, Celtic, country, bluegrass and alternate violin.
Award directors, Marcus Holden, fellow player Andrew Clermont and fiddle manufacturer Mark Mitchell, decided to set up an awards system focused on nurturing, supporting and rewarding the wealth of talent that exists in Australia and New Zealand.
Fiddlers of all ages and styles, composers, teachers and groups, are invited annually to contest eight categories. Closing date for the 2010 awards, to be announced in Tamworth is 30 November 2009.
Visit the Golden Fiddle Awards website
Music Industry
Tamworth
New Opportunities From a Natural Progression
The Board of the Country Music Association of Australia has announced that in June 2010, the Australian College of Country Music and the Camerata School of Country Music will join forces and deliver their senior and junior development programs simultaneously.
This new entity will be branded the ‘CMAA Australian Academy of Country Music‘
This will cement Tamworth as not only the home of Country music but also the home of professional industry development.
The move comes after detailed plans and discussions between both groups during the past 4 months. The result will see the Australian College of Country Music, which for the past 13 years has taken place in the lead up to the annual Country Music Festival, move to the mid-year time slot. Camerata has traditionally taken place in the June/July school holidays.
The outcome will see the programs operate simultaneously with the long-term view of creating an education hub for the Australian country music industry. It is anticipated that this timeframe will expand to include industry led workshops, writers and musician camps.
The joining together of the two schools was a simple form of natural progression. Both Camerata and College utilise many of the same industry specialists for master-classes and tuition so by having them operate together we will be able forge ahead and create a new and exciting focus on developing professional Australian country music for all age groups – Joan Douglas, Director of Camerata.
This amalgamation will strengthen our industry. The continued progress that we have made over the past thirty years will surely be pushed further by our young talent coming through the CMAA Academy of Australian Country Music. This can only be good for our unique Australian identity – John Williamson OAM, President of the CMAA.
The combining of Camerata and College was a decision that was reached after a great level of input and discussion. The newly formed CMAA Australian Academy of Country Music will bring together the very best in talent development specific to the country music genre unrivalled anywhere in the world - Cheryl Hayes, General Manager of the CMAA.
Music Industry
Tamworth
Nashville Fiddle player Aaron Till to play post-Tamworth party.
Aaron Till together with Mike Kerin – 2009 Australia’s National Fiddle Champ – and Stuie French, Chris Haig, Garry Steel and Tabea Anderfuhren will play at a Post Tamworth Party to be held at The Bald Faced Stag, 345 Parramatta Road, Leichardt on Sat. 7th Feb at 8:00pm.
Entry fee $15.00.
Events
Tamworth
News just in from Chris O’Hearn, Country Music Association of Australia Secretary, gives us the results of the National Bluegrass Championships held on 25th Jan this year: -
Banjo
1st – Hamish Davidson | 2nd – Monz Matsumoto | 3rd – Alex Kauffman
Mandolin
1st – Lachie Davidson | 2nd – Nigel Lever | 3rd – Daniel Watkins
Flatpick Guitar
1st – Innes Campbell | 2nd – Hamish Davidson | 3rd – Nigel Lever
Fiddle
1st – Mike Kerin | 2nd – Hamish Davidson | 3rd – George Jackson | Special Encouragement Award – Daniel Watkins
Bluegrass News
Tamworth
Australian country music’s night of nights, the 37th CMAA Country Music Awards of Australia were delivered last night to a capacity crowd in Tamworth New South Wales.
The use of bluegrass instruments in country music arrangements is growing in popularity in Australian country music. Husband and wife collaborators, Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson, took home a total of 5 Golden Guitar trophies for their No. 1 Album Rattlin’ Bones,
which features bluegrass arrangments an many of the tracks.
The couple was awarded Album of The Year (co-produced by Shane Nicholson & Nash Chambers), APRA Song of the Year, Video Clip of the Year (directed by Helen Clemens), Single of the Year and Top Selling Album Of The Year.
In other news from Tamworth, bluegrass band, The Davidson Brothers, Lachlan and Hamish, took home the Fender Instrumental of the Year Award for their composition Left Hand Drive.
Full list of winners CMAA Website
Bluegrass News
Kasey Chambers, Tamworth
Country festival rises above rain and recession
The recent rain celebrated by the rural communities in NSW was good news but not so for the thousands of festival goers at Tamworth Country Music Festival many of whom are campers. But neither weather nor recession appears to be having any impact of the audoence or the festival. The Australian Online reports.
Traditionally the festival brings an extra 50,000 people into the area for the 10-day music jamboree. Tourism Tamworth general manager Rebel Thomson said that while exact attendance figures were unavailable, an increased number of ticket sales for concerts — about 38,000 so far — suggested numbers were up.
Read the full story in The Australian Newspaper
Article
Tamworth
Melbourne dobro player, Pete Fidler, is running a Bluegrass Ramble at the Oxley Bowling Club during the Tamworth Country Music Festival.
Pete says There’s never enough bluegrass at Tamworth.
So he is’s hoping to tip the scales back our way, with an afternoon of hot pickin’ featuring some of the best players in the country.
The Oxley Bowling Club is at the top of Piper St next to the Oxley High School camping area. Pete’s Bluegrass Ramble kicks off Tuesday 20th January at 3pm. $5.00 door charge. See you there.
Be sure to check out Pete’s webspace.
Festivals
Tamworth
After a break of nine years, the Country Music Association of Australia re-introduced the Australian National Bluegrass Championships in 2008 to an overwhelming response from both the participants and audience members.
The Australian National Bluegrass Championships had humble beginnings in St. Andrews Hall, Tamworth in 1979. The Championships soon became the pinnacle of all acoustic music awards – attracting the best players in Australia together with lots of young, eager to learn players competing to become the national bluegrass flat pick guitar, mandolin, banjo and fiddle champion. The Championships attracted great crowds and were synonymous with great raw talent. The majority of the previous winners are now at the forefront of our country music industry – performing in the best bands, with all our major artists, and playing on the finest of our Australian country albums.
The Championships were the single most driving factor for the emergence of such great musical talent through the eighties and early nineties. Nominations and subsequent winners will be determined in 4 categories; Banjo, Guitar, Fiddle, Mandolin. the 2009 event will be held on 25th January.
Entry forms will be online shortly at www.visittamworth.com
Up for grabs for the winners will be Fender gear. Tickets: Adults $25/Children under 14 years $15 CMAA Members can order via their Membership ticketing Forms for premium seating. General Public Tickets on sale now at Tourism Tamworth Ltd. Ph: 02 6767 4300.
Events, Festivals
CMAA, Tamworth
Recent Comments