VIDEO: Graeme Connors marks another verse of his life

UNDER the glare of the stage lights, looking out on hundreds of smiling faces, the room ringing with applause; the man from Mackay stood letting it all sink in.

MAJOR ACHIEVEMENT:Graeme Connors is overwhelmed by being inducted into the Roll of Renown at the 2016 Tamworth Country Music Festival. Picture: Lee Constable

UNDER the glare of the stage lights, looking out on hundreds of smiling faces, the room ringing with applause; the man from Mackay stood with his wife by his side, letting it all sink in.

Graeme Connors, who began his career singing at the Parish Hall on Wood St, joins country legends Slim Dusty, Tex Morton, Buddy Williams and John Williamson in the Roll of Renown-the country Music Hall of Fame.

"It was pretty darn fabulous. I had my concert on Friday in Tamworth which was sold-out. On Saturday night I was announced the current recipient for the Roll of Renown. It was never on the radar. You are so busy doing what you do," he said.

But after 40 years of performing, the moment was almost overwhelming for the music veteran.

"It was very heart-warming to see people on their feet. Young artists and old artists, applauding my work. It was humbling of course. It was like a massive wave of positive energy that nearly blows you over," he said.

His inspiration is found in many different places and ways.

"I'm a fairly solo traveller. The songs I write have carved their own pathway. There's a tropicality in my work and the storytelling that I have. I learnt that at the feet of greats like John Prine, Harry Chapin, Kris Kristofferson. I loved writing songs for Slim Dusty," he said.

Songwriting, he says, often involves staring at a blank bit of paper in the early hours of the morning.

"When you travel as much as I do, you see so much and meeting as many people as I do, you are replenishing the well spring constantly. Writing is the inner conversation. We have to be very careful we don't stifle the inner conversation with the constant barrage of Facebook and television and digital music. I write from the silence," he said.

Back in Mackay he was interviewed and photographed at the Parish Hall on Wood St, where he first took to the stage in 1973, when pop group Sherbet came to town.

"I wanted to be a writer since I was 11 years old. I love people. There's something about looking into people and really listening to them and getting that shared humanity," he said.

He will celebrate his 60th birthday in April and will fittingly release his latest album, 60 Summers, early this year too.

Mr Connors said his career highlights were many: Golden Guitars, an Aria Award, performing at the Paralympics in Sydney, 2000.

"Rewards are obviously a highlight... but steppin' onstage at the Mackay Entertainment Centre, to your hometown crowd, knowing there's not an empty seat in the house, they're great rewards," he said

"I always thought you could just take it in your stride. As time goes on, the highpoints become so much more important. Nowadays it's fabulous... let me breath it in for a while," he said

Originally published as VIDEO: Graeme Connors marks another verse of his life