Tamworth Country Music Festival

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Despite all the beach culture, Australia still knows how to throw one hell of a pasture party. Tamworth, located about 400km NW of Sydney, is considered the country music capital of Australia. Each year the town of 50,000 people hosts a week-long music festival and opens their arms to another 50,000 visitors (and their wallets!).

The music festival had a country base, but there was also bluegrass, folk, indie-alternative bands, 11-yr old boys who killed on the guitar (and 71-yr old boys who can still rock with the best of them). The sidewalks of downtown were lined with up-and-coming talent playing their tunes as people passed by- they called it “busking”- in fact, that’s how Keith Urban got his start! They had venues all over town with shows starting at 10am and playing through 3am, with a majority of them free.

The town converted river banks and footie fields into temporary camp grounds to accommodate all the people. Everyone their was sooo nice- and all there to have a good time. Lots of drinking and dancing, but no bar brawls to kill the mood. We chatted it up with the locals, fans who have been coming to the show for 36 years, and band members who became groupies of the other bands. We saw a number of bands share the stage with other musicians for a song or two- very cool to see how they really got into the music. It's hard to pick a favorite act of the week because each band had something distinctive that made them stand out, in a different but good sort of way.

We only planned on staying for a couple days, but had so much fun that we decided to stay put for the week. That’s the longest we’ve been away from the water since we got here! We tried to make videos of some of the performances because pictures don’t do it justice- guess you’ll just have to check it out for yourself!

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Photos

country pub crawl rules
There were all sorts of people at the festival with one thing in common- have a good time

The Re-Mains
This band has been reviewed by Rolling Stone magazine- and for good reasons. Think the Eels after a 10-day binge

Redfish Bluegrass Band
Josh was disappointed there wasn't a washboard or stringy thing, but they still sounded pretty good

old dudes rocking out
these guys aren't quite ready for the rocking chair

concert at the Diggers
We caught a couple of shows at the Diggers featuring John Stone- straight from Nashville.

no such thing as too much fun
this was a little later during the week (days and time don't really matter in Tamworth)

Keith Urban's handprint
Keith Urban was inducted into the "Hands of Fame" in 1997. I got to touch his hand (print)!!!

Taking a break
All the excitement finally caught up with me- but a quick bite to eat and I was ready to go again

Aussie Hillbillies
We saw a lot of suped-up utes (aka- el camino). Not really sure what purpose they serve, or how the big guys fit inside

Something for all the senses
The sunsets were simply spectacular out here

luv ya!
Still the best part of the trip :)