Tamworth Country Music Festival is an annual celebration of Australian Country Music
By Phill Doring for Country Music News International Magazine
A showcase which has significant importance is that of the Indigenous Cultural sharing talents in various fields of art and music. Song, dance and art are a strong part of indigenous culture.
This gives first nation people the opportunity to share their works over a couple of days upon the Fanzone Stage in the main street of Tamworth.
The 2024 showcase banner features artwork by Tess Reading from Art Without Fear a proud Gomerio woman and artist from Tamworth. Tess created the design using colours from across the photos supplied by our featured musicians. The symbols represent the community coming together to support artists which captured the spirit of the showcase perfectly.
The first day of the cultural showcase started with a Welcome & Smoking Ceremony.
A Welcome to Country is delivered by only traditional owners / custodians of the land on which the event takes place. Country is the term used to describe the lands, waterways and seas to which first nation people are connected. A smoking ceremony is an ancient and contemporary custom among first nation Australians that involves smoldering native plants to produce smoke. This herbal smoke is believed to have both spiritual and physical cleansing properties, as well as the ability to ward off bad spirits. Welcome to Country and the Smoking Ceremony are a significant introduction to an event of such magnitude.
2024 saw much acclaimed award winning indigenous artist Troy Cassar Daley grace the main stage, which was definitely a highlight for all. Troy has released 13 studio albums, 2 live albums and 5 compilation albums over 30 years, including the platinum-selling The Great Country Songbook with Adam Harvey. Throughout this time Troy has received awards including 5 ARIA Music Awards, 40 Golden Guitars, 9 Deadly Awards (Australian Indigenous Artist Awards), 4 Country Music of Australia Entertainer of the Year Awards & 2 National Indigenous Awards.
You can check all things Troy via his website –Â www.troycassardaley.com.au
2024 saw a strong contingent of artist grace their presence with the young and the old showing their talent which was inclusive of Noah Overs a 2023 CMAA College graduate,
Nathan Lamont, Buddy Knox, Aimee Hannan, Maddi Lyn, Roger Knox, Emma Donovan, Joey Leigh Wagtail, Kimberly Gold, Kyla-Belle Roberts & Castlereagh Connection.
www.facebook.com/aboriginalculturalshowcase
A stand out & for future reference these guys are worth watching & listening too.
Castlereagh Connection –
Castlereagh Connection are an Indigenous, family band from the small town of Coonamble NSW, they have been traveling all over performing for the past 4 years, including the TCMF where in 2022, lead singer Travis won the 12 and under Golden Gig competition and the band made the top 10 Busking Championship finals.
They play a wide range of songs from country to rock, koori classics and songs incorporating their native language, Gamilaraay, mixed in with a few originals.
They released their first EP in 2021 and were invited to audition for the Voice Generations where they performed on National TV and racked up millions of views on social media with their rendition of Stand By Me.
The band consists of lead singer Travis (13), David Jnr on lead guitar (16), Braydon, keeping the beat with the drums (15) and David snr on bass.
Castlereagh Connection – You can find Castlereagh Connection upon social media and Spotify.