Falling in love with Tamworth

There is a trip, a pilgrimage really, that the kid and I have made every year since she was born. The annual trek to the Tamworth Country Music Festival. For us it’s a work trip but the one she most looks forward to every year. For a busy working artist the festival is hectic but in the best possible way. For a publicist, it’s a privilege to look after an act in Tamworth.

It can help set their path for the next 12 months. You must be on your A game.In previous years, the world’s smallest PR professional and I have looked after McAlister Kemp but this year we were working with the stunning Lyn Bowtell and Bennett, Bowtell and Urquhart (BBU). To work with an artist you should really love what they do and I had a similar experience when I heard both Drew McAlister and Lyn Bowtell sing for the first time.

A friend had invited Drew to a party at my house when I was 14. As a horde of teenagers sat on the floor in my mother’s living room in South Dubbo, Drew pulled out the guitar and belted out When The War Is Over. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. With Lyn, I was at a sound check in 2003 and she was on stage with her trio, Bella. She began to sing their hit single About A Girl and again, it gave me goosebumps. It felt like the air in the room stopped moving. There was nothing but silence pierced by an acoustic guitar and that beautiful voice.

My admiration for both artists is about more than just their vocal style. It’s their unique ability as songwriters to make you feel something, powerfully, in less than four minutes. People often ask me for advice about working in PR and I tell them that story. If you are working with an artist you should feel like that about them and work out how to make other people feel the same.

With Bennett, Bowtell and Urquhart (BBU) up for five Golden Guitar awards and Lyn nominated for an additional two, plus shows at Blazes and The Albert Hotel, guest spots with other artists, signings and a packed interview schedule, we hit the ground running at the 2017 Tamworth Country Music Festival.

After a long, hot day of filming and interviews, Lyn and her partner Damon went to Toyota Star Maker in the park, which is held on the first Sunday of the festival. She wanted to support some of the students she had worked with over the previous weeks as the Director of the CMAA Academy of Country Music.What no one knew at the time was that during the performances Lyn felt severe pain and was taken to hospital, where she was admitted overnight. It was ultimately discovered that she had an ovarian cyst rupture. I can only imagine that this is as agonising as it sounds.There was much discussion around the house that we were all sharing about what to do. Lyn, being the consummate professional, hardly missed a beat.

None of the fans watching her perform would have known that she was in constant pain. She was flawless on stage, charming as ever through all her interviews and generous with fans during signings. This would not come as a surprise to anyone who has been lucky enough to spend time with Lyn. There is a light and a warmth that emanates from her soul that stays with you long after she has left the room.

Halfway through a busy week, and after watching of Lyn play at the Golden Guitar showcase, the kid and I headed back to the car. We fully intended to beat everyone home and dive straight into the pool. It was so hot that day that after an hour in the sun, just opening the car door felt like you were stepping into the fiery pit of hell so we were very much looking forward to the sweet relief of the car’s air conditioning.

As I turned the key I heard a sound that is never ideal – total silence. I knew straight away my battery was dead. I’m a country girl who grew up around guys who worked on their own cars so thankfully the easy stuff (flat tires, batteries, oil changes at a pinch) I can take care of myself.However, after a quick glance into the boot, I realised I had removed my tool box while packing for Tamworth and it was now conveniently located on my front verandah three hours away.

Just as I popped the hood this very chivalrous and good-looking young man who was parked in the McDonald’s waiting bay came over, tools in hand, and offered to help. At that moment, with my previously pristine makeup running into my eyes and the kid so red in the face I thought she may spontaneously combust, I could not have been more grateful.

With the battery out and us now well on the way to getting home I thought the least I could do was offer this super hero of car repair tickets to the BBU show that night. My offer, however, was met with an unusual smile. As he raised his sunglasses, I suddenly realised the very helpful “stranger” was Travis Collins. I was horrified that I didn’t recognise him because not only had the man been nominated for five Golden Guitars, but I know him. He did the Outlaws Tour with Drew McAlister and I had literally been sitting next to him in a radio studio for 15 minutes the day before. (So sorry Trav, I’m putting it down to heat stroke).

When the kid was describing the events of the day to her grandma over the phone she said “Someone famous fixed our car, I think it was Jimi Hendrix”.

That encounter sums up the thing I love most about Tamworth and about the country music community in general. It’s like a large extended family. Artists are supportive and protective of each other. You spend most of your time running into friends, some of whom you only see once a year.

Quick catch-ups outside radio studios, in the green room at Fanzone or hiding out in the CMAA office for the occasional respite from the sun. More often than anywhere else in the country, you will see famous friends unexpectedly join the act you have come to see on stage, or just hanging out in the crowd.

The BBU show at Wests was a perfect example, when Kasey Chambers joined Kevin, Lyn and Felicity on stage as they covered her hit song I Still Pray. Just before the doors opened, the four of them ran through the tune together in the narrow green room. To hear the harmonies of those vocal chords in such small quarters was practically a spiritual experience.

As the band stepped out in front of a packed crowd, the kid was at the side of the stage with a bag of Tiny Teddys in her hand, swaying to the music. Next to her were Kasey and Lachlan Bryan leaning on a road case, eyes transfixed on the stage as BBU sang Goulburn Valley Woman.With so many shows back to back in Tamworth, often as you are loading out after a performance, the next artist is loading in.

That night it gave us a chance to catch up with one of my favourite people, Shannon Noll. Lyn and Shannon have shared a stage and I have been lucky enough to work with him on occasion over the years, including his first tour with Idol in 2003. We were both raised in the same part of country NSW and he reminds me of the guys I grew up with. What you get is what you see and nothing is more important than family and friends. He handles things with good humour and a graciousness that others could take a lesson from and when he performs, he knocks it out of the park every time.

At Kevin Bennett’s show the following night at The Tamworth Hotel, the crowd was littered with fellow artists who had come to hear the master at work. The man has a voice like warm honey but it’s the way he writes that makes me nostalgic. Like my musical heroes Carole King, Stevie Nicks and James Taylor, you know early in Kevin’s set that this is a man who has lived a life and, until the performance is over, you are lucky enough to be invited in.

Growing up, my Mum had always ensured our house was filled with music. She had an extensive and eclectic vinyl collection which included Led Zeppelin, Chisel, Joni Mitchell and everything in between. She actually named me after an old Uriah Heap song. Since before I could walk, Mum would pack up the Kombi and take us to any folk festival in driving distance. According to the old girl, if the Bushwhackers were playing and I was out of her sight for more than a minute, there would be a sudden announcement from the stage that I was joining the band for their classic tune, The Ryebuck Shearer. They used to let me play the lagerphone and sing along during the chorus.

Standing in the crowd waiting for Kevin to start, I was chatting with Australian music royalty, Roger Corbett (who has been a member of The Bushwhackers and their principal song writer since 1980). We were having a perfectly sensible conversation about how their shows had been and how busy he was in the lead up to festival.As part of the job, I have learned not to be a fan girl, it’s not professional.

However as I looked down to see my baby girl smiling up at me with her arms firmly wrapped my legs, the full circle moment overwhelmed me and the excited five-year old in my head was screaming “Holy &%$#, I’m talking to a Bushwhacker” (Trust me when I tell you that no one who knows me would be surprised that even the toddler in my subconscious swears like a sailor).

Finally it was the night of the Golden Guitar Awards. The kid walked the red carpet with BBU then we waited backstage for the winners to be announced. Thankfully there was reason to celebrate and my baby girl jumped up and down on the couch like Tom Cruise when her Aunty Lyn won the first of three awards for her vocal collaboration on FU Cancer. She collected the next two with BBU band mates Kevin and Felicity. Travis Collins also picked up three on the night, which left he and Lyn tied for the most awards won in the event’s 45th year. The kid was thrilled for Travis too. She screamed “Mummy, Jimi Hendrix won a Golden Guitar”.

BBU emerged through the backstage door victorious and jubilant, followed closely by Troy Cassar Daley, who had just been added to the Roll of Renown. There were hugs, congratulations and a mutual respect of talent.

The Governor General, who had presented BBU with their award for Alternative Country Album of the Year, approached Lyn and told her how much he loved their album, to which she replied “Thanks mate”. She looked over his shoulder at me with a smile and a look that I knew meant “Did I just call the Governor General mate?”. It was a funny moment.

Given the win the previous night, Lyn’s show with her original band, Southern Steel, at the Albert Hotel on the Sunday, became more of a celebration. By then we were all running on very little sleep but as always, when she stepped on stage, Lyn owned the room with songs that drew you in and a smile that made everyone in the crowd feel like she is singing directly to them.

A who’s who of guests artists joined her including Travis Collins, Brook McClymont, Aleyce Simmonds, Andrew Toombs and Catherine Britt.I watched my little girl staring in awe at Lyn and Andy as they covered one of my all time favourite songs, Tom Petty’s Won’t Back Down. I sat quietly and knew I was witnessing her fall in love with music and with true talent, just the way I had done at her age.

People have told me over the years that they hate country music. It’s a statement I have never understood. There are mediocre songs and exceptional songs written in every genre. A performer’s ability to engage you with a narrative is a rare and exceptional skill. Some songs evoke vivid memories because they take you back to a certain time and place and others just speak to your heart.

On any long drive, the kid and I will sing in the car, just as my mum had done with me. The latter was more of a necessity, though, because the Kombi didn’t have a radio. When the kid drifts off to sleep I have a go-to play list. No matter what else gets added, there are three songs that always make the cut.

When I was 23 I lost someone I loved. Dean was only two years older than me. He was sweet, funny and undeniably handsome. He died and I was heartbroken. When I hear the opening chords of Sweet Child of Mine, I can see him in the passenger seat of my silver VK commodore singing really loudly just to make me laugh. When Flame Trees begins to play I can feel his arms over mine in the back room of our favorite pub, correcting my pool shot.

Even though it was 20 years ago, when I hear the raspy voice of Melissa Etheridge singing Sleep While I Drive, the all-consuming guilt, pain and sadness I felt in the months following his death fills my soul. When memories are all you have any connection, even a sad one, is a blessing.

While on stage during the week, Lyn had played a tune titled In This Song. It’s a touching story about her family and Lyn sounds angelic when she sings it. As I looked into the crowd, I saw a tear rolling down the cheek of a man as he watched her perform. To create that level of emotion in someone you have never met is incredible, almost magical. Lyn does it so effortlessly because that is just who she is.

Even if you don’t consider yourself a country music fan, Pack up the family and head on over to Tamworth next January. There is so much talent and so many good people, it would be hard not to fall in love!