Woolomin – Tamworth Country Music Festival

Arrived early to find the town already blocked off and really well setup for tourists to the town. The tourist office is open every day for the duration of the event and they are very helpful. We checked out the main centre of town. We saw great buskers; including Molly the most beautiful red cloud kelpie. She could do more tricks than most 10 year old children. Thinking we’d have to start training midget up as Molly was raking it in!

There was a busker not on every street corner as we’d been told, but every 50m! It did make it impossible to hear some of them as they were all overlapping each other. For the most part they were really good. Each busker has a number and you can vote for your favourite busker. I guess there is a prize? Found out the opening night concert was on tonight at the Memorial Gardens so we took it easy during the very hot day and headed over to the park at 5:30pm to get a spot for the concert.

The concert was really well done. They have a Star Trak Competition each year and previous winners have been Keith Urban, Blundell, Gina Jefferies and Casey Chambers. So the tickets to the events surrounding finals of newcomers to Country Music are rare as hens teeth.

Its strange listening to all the music on offer in the streets of Tamworth. I have asked myself the strange question of “what IS country music” as there seems to be such varying answers. The best I can come up with is its just about anything as long as there is no thrash and has some words of hardship included in the lyrics. Last years’ winner was a tiny little thing called someone Lee. She sang a song called Knocked Up which was probably about how her mum felt when she was 16 and pregnant with her. Most songs have some connection to how people feel, this is the common theme used to describe Country Music.

Due to all the well organised signage around the place, decided not to camp in the carpark over the river and we headed out of town for a not so restful rest stop… Kept awake by noisy neighbours pulling up ages after us and making noise for ages, as well as the millions of trucks flying past most of the night.