Entertainment
You must not attend the event if you have COVID-19 symptoms (a cough, fever, sore throat, fatigue or shortness of breath)
TOM MAXWELL
Date: 27/08/2023
There is little doubt that Tom Maxwell is one of the leading forces in today’s crop of Balladeers. One of just a handful of travelling Bush Balladeers still on the road full time. Tom is not only living the dream. He is keeping alive an Australian way of life that has served to enshrine the Australian Bush Heritage.
Through hard work and sheer determination he has carved his niche in the Australian Country Music industry and has seen his fan base explode in recent times. Tom has been down plenty of dusty roads, met many characters along the way and heard some of the best yarns to be told and like the Balladeers who came before him and built the foundations for today’s country music industry. Tom continues to preserve those stories in music and song.
An accomplished entertainer, Tom has already released 12 successful albums, and has made the finals in many of Australia’s Country Music Awards including the Prestigious StarMakerand the Golden Guitars with his most recent nomination in 2016 for Bush Ballad of the Year. In January 2010, Tom was inducted into the Hands of Fame Park in Tamworth, an honour awarded to those for their services and contribution within the Australian Country Music Industry.
KING BOYS
Date: 27/08/2023
Local band who perform Gospel music
GOTTANI SISTERS
Date: 27/08/2023
Winning several music competitions opened the gates up for the sisters to
perform with such acts as Slim Dusty, Lee Conway, Bullamakanka & Redgum.
Gaining experience the girls first travelled to Nashville to compete for
Australia in the Seagrams 7 International Battle of the bands where they met
George Jones & Buck Owens, it was an honour.
Now back in Aussieland they recorded their first album “By Request” with
great local success & much airplay, the sisters moved to the big smoke of
Brisbane & Sydney performing shows with Johnny Cash, Gene Pitney & Des
O’Connor, winning awards at the “Queensland Country Music Awards” &
appearing on TV. They recorded their 2nd Album “Drops of Water” on Nicholls
& Dimes for RCA. The album consisted of modern country songs & originals, it
produced number one songs & received two golden guitar nominations in
Tamworth.
Touring Australia extensively, they supported the great Slim Dusty on his
Celebration Tour, opening the Stockman’s Hall of Fame in Longreach, then
back to the USA representing Australia at Fan Fair & performing in front of
25,000 people, being introduced on stage by Country great, George Jones.
Then back in the studio to record their 3rd Album, they ventured back to
Nashville to appear on the Nashville networks “You Can be a Star”.
Residing in Sydney, they performed up & down the east coast of Australia,
they teamed up with Owen Blundell to record a single & video, which earned
then a Gold guitar nomination for video of the year.
They perform a mixture of country, country/rock, blues, roots & bluegrass
music, along with self-penned songs & their trademark sound Pauline & Jenny
hope to be coming to your town.
CHARLY BOYTER
Date: 27/08/2023
Charley Boyter has been entertaining audiences for almost 45 years. Originally
from Windsor NSW Australia, Charley was removed from his Aboriginal family
as a youngster along with his brother and three sisters and spent the rest of his
childhood growing up in a foster home in Sydney.
Charley began playing around with a guitar at the age of fifteen, jamming
along with other pickers at a Church of Christ camp at Lake Illawarra in New
South Wales.
As Charley’s guitar playing improved he started performing for church groups
playing and singing traditional Country and Bluegrass Gospel music. Charley
started performing with a good friend, Bruce Ohara and soon after, this combo
became known as Country Sound.
Country Sound became pretty well known and started performing around
Australia on a regular schedule and they were one of the first gospel bands to
perform and record in the Sydney Opera House.
At this time the band was approached to record some shows for Christian
Television that was televised nationally.
It was during this time that Slim Dusty saw and heard Charley’s guitar playing
and offered him a job with his show. Charley joined Slim’s Travellin’ Country
Band in 1975 and has toured most of Australia, New Guinea and the Solomon
Islands.
Charley has recorded on so many of Slim’s albums, Slim once remarked
“Charley has played on more of my albums than any other guitarist”.
The partnership with the Slim Dusty Show lasted for about 20 years.
Charley has recorded albums with many other great artists such as Glenn
Jones, Smokey Dawson, Jimmy Little, Col Hardy, Lee Kernaghan and family, and
many more.
Charley has also performed in the USA at the Bell witch Opry in Adams Tn.
Charley is a multi-award winning artist and his unique acoustic guitar sound
can be heard on some Aussie Classics such as Walk a Country Mile, Country
Revival, Duncan and Leave him in the Longyard.
TEG EGAN
Date: 27/08/2023
Ted Egan has lived most of his life in the Northern Territory. He is best known
as presenter of the highly acclaimed television series’ This Land
Australia and The Great Outdoors.
Prior to his television career Ted worked for the Department of Aboriginal
Affairs and was stationed “in the bush”. While in the outback, Ted was a
stockman, crocodile hunter, a Patrol Officer, Reserve Superintendent and a
teacher at various outback schools.
Ted has also been writing and recording songs since 1969 and has produced 25
albums. He also performs regularly at both folk and country music festivals.
He is considered one of the few people who can successfully bridge the gap
between recording, writing and live performance.
In 1991, Ted was awarded the Order of Australia medal “for services to the
Aboriginal people and for an ongoing contribution to the literary heritage of
Australia through song and verse”.
Ted is also author of A Drop of Rough Ted, Would I Lie to You?, The Paperboy’s
War, Sitdown Up North and Justice All Their Own and is co-author of two books
each entitled The Drovers Boy.
He is an inaugural life member of the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame, the
Country Music Association of Australia, the Workers Heritage Centre, the
Waltzing Matilda Museum and the Drover’s Camp. Ted was the first Patron of
the Drover’s Camp and Patron of Volunteers for Isolated Students Education.
Ted Egan is also featured in the Hands of Fame and the Roll of Renown at the
Tamworth Australian Country Music Centre and was the inaugural recipient of
the Australian Folk Trust Award for major contribution to the Australian
tradition.
COL HARDY
Date: 27/08/2023
1940: Born July 18 and raised in Brewarrina, NSW. A Kamilaroi man, Col was one of 12
children – nine boys and three girls.
1960: He grew up surrounded by music and worked in the shearing shed with his dad. They
would listen to the radio of a night and some of his favourite singers were Roy Orbison, Jim
Reeves and Marty Robbins.
1962: Moved to Sydney to pursue a musical career and met Myrtle Cox, who was interested
in Aboriginal people. Myrtle recorded some songs of Col’s and sent it to NAIDOC, which is
how his professional career began.
1960s: Col was part of The Opals, a country outfit and sometime house band for Jimmy
Little’s travelling All-Coloured Revue.
1971: Recorded his first EPs on Opal Records, Tamworth – Protest: Protest! and Don’t She
Look Good.
1973: Col was the first Indigenous person to win a Golden Guitar at the inauguralhttps://droverscamp.com.au/wp-admin/post.php?post=419&action=edit#
Australasian CM Awards in Tamworth. He won the Radio Listener Award, which has not
been awarded since. Released his debut album Black Gold on Opal Records.
1974: Toured Australia extensively and performed with some of the biggest names in CM.
He would often do club work with Auriel Andrew.
1978: Released the album Country on Opal Records.
1979: Inducted into the Hands of Fame, Tamworth.
1983: Released the album Black & White Tangle on Opal Records.
1990: During NAIDOC Week, was voted NSW Aboriginal Artist of the Year.
1991: Released the album Remember Me on Opal Records.
1996: Began working at Taronga Park Zoo, delivering a program called Animals of the
Dreaming, where he tells stories and sings songs about native animals.
2007: Received the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to the CM industry as
a singer and recording artist, and to the community through the delivery of outreach
zoological education programs in regional areas.
2013: Received the Living Legend Award at the Kempsey CMF.
2014: Released the album I Am Me.
2016: Won Male Country Artist of the Year at the MO Awards.
2018: Released the gospel album It Is No Secret.
2019: Won the Group or Duo Award at the Stan Coster MBBAs with Graham Rodger, who
wrote the song I’m An Old Black Man.
2020: Celebrated 60 years in the entertainment industry. Still actively performing and sharing
his knowledge.
2021: Col is still working with Taronga Park Zoo, going to schools all over NSW with a
workshop called Animals of the Dreaming, where they take native animals to show the
children. Col sings and tells Dreamtime stories, teaching students about protecting the
environment, and shows them Aboriginal artefacts.
THE RUSTY RINGERS
Date: 27/08/2023