February 14, 2017

Tamworth in 2017 is a town of contrasts.

Historic Federation buildings house modern cafes serving brunch made from locally sourced ingredients and tucked behind rows of tidy tin-roofed terraces you’ll spot intricately drawn street art.

It’s got rugged outdoorsy soul in spades but smatterings of modern sophisticated Australia softening the edges. Which is what makes it exactly the kind of place you should come to soak up the essence of this great land of ours, where it’s come from and where it’s going.

Which brings us to the Tamworth Country Music Festival (TCMF). The world’s second largest homage to the poems and songs inspired by the bush (eclipsed only by Nashville) and arguably the most feel-good weekend you’ll have between Brisbane and Sydney.

But if it’s your first rodeo at the TCMF, here’s a few key things to keep in mind…

You Don’t Have To Be A Die-Hard Country Fan To Enjoy Yourself

The often overlooked thing about country music is how diverse it can be. On the pointy end you might have the honky tonk type tunes you generally associate with the genre but even those are pretty few and far between.

These days you’ve got (deep breath) Alternative Country, Americana, Bluegrass, Contemporary Bluegrass, Traditional Bluegrass, Red Dirt, Rockabilly, (another breath) Country Folk, Country Gospel, Urban Cowboy, Outlaw Country, Bush Band, Progressive Country and Southern Soul.

And that’s not even every sub-genre we can find.

Safe to say that country music refuses to be stereotyped and contained, so you shouldn’t even try. Rather, do as the fans do and just let the sounds and stories take you on the journey.

You Don’t Need A Ton Of $$ For Gigs…

There are a few headline ticketed events such as The Toyota Golden Guitar Awards that you’ll want to snag a seat at, however if you want to get a sense of how much raw talent there is in Australia then just take a stroll down Peel Street during the sunshine hours.

During the festival the main mall of Tamworth transforms from a bustling shopping district to an open air theatre. This is where some of Australia’s most prodigious talents, such as Kasey Chambers, got their early starts and it’s impossible to watch these gifted youngsters without a sense of anticipation of what’s in store for their careers.

The best part is it’s completely budget friendly – although we do recommend you bring a few bucks because we guarantee you’ll want to tip every busker you see.

Leave Those Inhibitions Behind

The world is full of festivals that cater to the crux of whatever happens to be ‘cool’ at that present time and there’s no shame in it if you enjoy a little scene to be seen every now and then. What’s so refreshing about the TCMF though is the complete lack of pretension.

Maybe it’s because country music singers so unashamedly wear their hearts on their sleeves. Or perhaps it’s because the genre already exists so far from the standard Billboard Top 10 list that the pressure’s completely off anyway.

Either way, it’s an infectious and uplifting sight to see crowds by a busker breaking into impromptu line dances and throngs of happy faces cramming into corners of pubs, whooping and hollering to harmonica blues.

We challenge to just try to not dance…

Chat To The Locals

One of the biggest challenges at the TCMF is having to choose from the seemingly endless lists of gigs and goings on. The local newspaper publishes a pretty handy guide to which singers will be performing where but unless you’re a bonafide boot-scootin’ country fanatic none of the band names are really going to mean anything to you.

Which is actually pretty awesome because your fresh eyes (and ears) will be in for a treat.

Speak to your hotel concierge, chat to your taxi drivers and stop strangers on the street for their suggestions of what’s hot and happening. Every person in Tamworth is buzzing off those positive festival vibes and almost certainly has a favourite singer on their hit list.

Also, be sure to get some intel on which bars cater to which crowd, like the Imperial Hotel on Marius Street which is a haven for the younger slightly rock-inspired tunes. Meanwhile the Tamworth Hotel around the corner specialises in upbeat banjo-fuelled folk.

Explore Beyond The Town

Sometimes the best way to get a feel for a place is to get out of it a little and Oxley Lookout is just a 6 minute drive from White Street to Scenic Road. Pack dinner, snag a spot here at sunset and watch the colours of the sky shift over the sprawl of town.

Or pack the car, hit the B56 highway and head towards the charming rivers and farms of nearby Moonbi and Mulla Creek. On the journey you’ll pass romantically worn tin sheds upon acres of rolling hills and giant flocks of parrots squawking in the trees.

It’s all so perfectly Australian. Which we suppose, like the TCMF, is entirely the point.