Groundwater 2019 headliner Lee Kernaghan recalls ‘off the chain’ tour with James Blundell

THE Groundwater Country Music Festival’s closing night tribute to James Blundell — including a special guest appearance by Lee Kernaghan — was a fitting finale to a huge weekend of music.

THE Groundwater Country Music Festival’s closing night tribute to James Blundell was a fitting finale to a huge weekend of music.

The first young Australian country act to sign a major record label deal in Nashville, Blundell’s success in the US helped forge a path for Aussie artists including Keith Urban, Catherine Britt and Kasey Chambers.

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Back on home soil, Blundell has also helped promote scores of rising talents including a young Kerngahan (a former member of Blundell’s band) and penned hits for everyone from Kernaghan to Slim Dusty and Jimmy Little.

Blundell delighted a huge crowd on the festival’s Surf Parade stage last night when he lead an all-star tribute to his career last night called 30 Years of Pride.

James Blundell and Lee Kernaghan at the Groundwater Country Music Festival in Broadbeach

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Crowds went wild when Blundell was joined onstage by Kernaghan, who revealed he’ll headline the country music festival next year.

Blundell said he and Kernaghan had written and recorded “the most material of any of my working relationships” in the past 30 years.

Lee Kernaghan will headline the 2019 Groundwater Country Music Fstival. Picture: Richard Gosling

“We have installed and serviced more hangovers together, watched each other’s kids grow up, and played the most shows together of any collaboration I’ve been involved with,” he said.

“His performances are legendary, his record sales phenomenal, and his commitment to his craft profound. It was the perfect end to the “30 Years of Pride” to have him join me on stage.”

Kernaghan said Blundell was “an absolute living legend”.

“I’ll always remember the fan hysteria around James as his career was taking off back in the early nineties,” he said.

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“For the first time Australian country had its very own rock star and James was on everything from Hanes billboards to 60 minutes to taking country music to the top of the ARIA mainstream chart.

“I’ll forever be grateful to him for giving me (a young bloke from the Riverina NSW) a job in his band and opening the shows for him. People (including a whole lot of girls) were going crazy for James and his homegrown fusion of country rock and blues … it was a unique brand of Australian country we’d never seen or heard before.”

James Blundell and special guest Lee Kernaghan at Groundwater Country Music Festival in Broadbeach.

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In fact, Kernaghan said the tour was epic.

“There were stage invasions, dressing room invasions and even motel room invasions,” he said.

“The whole thing was off the chain. He literally kicked down the doors and created a whole new era of music in Australia.”

Kernaghan said he was honoured to join Blundell onstage at Groundwater.

“One of the highlights of this year was joining a star studded line up at the Groundwater festival to join James Blundell on stage and pay tribute to an absolute living legend of Australian Country on his 30th Anniversary tour,” he said.