Thursday always feels like the pointy end of the Tamworth Country Music Festival. By the time Thursday rolls around, the awards are in full swing, there are industry conversations happening, and you have to accept that you can’t be everywhere at once.
Things get underway from 9am with the Australian Country Music People’s Choice Awards at Tamworth Town Hall, a reminder that in the middle of all the industry chatter, it’s still the fans who have the final say. Also, from 9am, and running through until 1pm, the Powerstation Museum fires up the steam engines, which is a special occasion and is for you if you’re after something really different.
By 9.50am, Zak Armstrong is warming things up at the Toyota FanZone, before the focus turns squarely to the business of music. From 10am, the Tamworth Community Event Centre on Darling Street becomes the place to be for anyone keen to learn, connect and think beyond the festival bubble. The day opens with a Conversation with Henry Wagons, followed at 11.15am by Get to Know Sound NSW: insights, artists and action. At 12.10pm, Sound Advice: Tales from the Road takes over, before a lunch break from 1pm and a full afternoon of forums covering everything from managing success in country music to export opportunities and wellbeing. It’s a big, thoughtful day for industry people, with sessions running right through to 5.30pm and well worth the small entry fee.
At 10am, one of the true fixtures of festival week returns with the Maton Guitars 80th Anniversary Showcase at Wests Blazes Showroom. This is always such a special event and you just never know who might jump up, so I wouldn’t miss it if I were you. Around the same time, fresh from their TSA win, The Water Runners take over the Front Deck at the Longyard Hotel, a great spot for relaxed catch-ups and good music.
By 10.30am, Mark Atkins is performing as you browse the Australian Country Music Hall of Fame. A world-renowned didjeridoo player and a local from the Tamworth region, this is one of those moments where place and music come together perfectly.
Midday arrives quickly and from 12pm the choices really start to bite. You could take a little drive out of town to Nundle to catch Corey Colum at the Peel Inn, party it up with Australian Idol 2024 winner Dylan Wright at Moonshiners Bar, or sing along with Max Jackson at her Tamworth to the Max show in the Longyard Hotel’s Goonoo Goonoo Room.
From 1pm, Amber Kenny and The Wildflowers launch their debut album at The Press Basement Bar, while across town Lyn Bowtell and Her Famous Friends fill Tamworth Town
Hall. If you’re looking for me, I’ll be there, as Lyn continues to celebrate her induction into the Galaxy of Stars, a genuinely well-deserved honour.
At 1.30pm, Brooke McClymont and Adam Eckersley take to the stage at Wests Blazes Showroom, before the afternoon rolls into one of those shows that always delivers. From 3.30pm, Luke O’Shea brings songs, stories, laughs and more than a few tears to the Songhouse at the Tamworth Services Club.
By 4pm, it’s time for a beautiful Thursday tradition, with Troy Cassar-Daley’s Songs From The Edge of Town at TRECC. Try to stop me from seeing this one.
From 5pm, Festival Fringe takes over Peel Street, with the Brisbane to Bourke Street end now closed off and buzzing. It’s the perfect time to wander, take it all in and see where the night leads.
At 6pm, the ABCRA National Finals Rodeo continues at AELEC’s Indoor Arena, where the best of the best take on some of Australia’s finest animal athletes. If bush ballads are more your speed, 6.30pm brings the ABBA Music Excellence Awards at Balladeers Homestead, hosted by Kylie Castle and Peter Pratt, with a strong line-up of guest artists and a band steeped in tradition.
By 7pm, the evening well and truly explodes with choice. Andrew Clermont’s International Supper Club is on at North Tamworth Bowling Club, Col Finley is in the Lounge at the Tamworth Services Club, Colin Buchanan is live in the Bluebird Room at the Tamworth Community Event Centre, Kevin Bennett and The Flood fire up the Beer Garden at The Tamworth Hotel, and Toyota presents Kix Live in the Park at Toyota Park, featuring Casey Barnes, Lane Pittman, Rachael Fahim and Tyla Rodrigues.
At 8pm, Ian Moss takes over the Longyard Hotel’s Goonoo Goonoo Room and, frankly, it doesn’t get much rockier than that. Fifteen minutes later, at 8.15pm, Lee Kernaghan brings Boys from the Bush to TRECC, the Boy from the Bush himself, before McAlister Kemp reunite at 8.30pm at Wests Blazes Showroom for a rare and much-anticipated show.
If you’ve still got something left in the tank, the night wraps up from 10.30pm with Craig Wayne Boyd from the USA at Wests Legends Lounge, bringing an international flavour to Tamworth and rounding out a massive Thursday with a proper Legends party.
Bec Gracie, aka The Country Journo, has been a country music journalist for more than 20 years and we’re proud to have her leading our TCMF26 coverage for New England Times. Join the email list to get her festival tips in your inbox every day!
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