Golden opportunity knocks for a trio of fresh faces at Tamworth

The biggest night on the Australian country music calendar will be co-hosted by three fresh faces.

Hosts of the Golden Guitar Awards at the Tamworth Country Music Festival, Melanie Dyer, Sinead Burgess and Caitlyn Shadbolt. Picture: Josh Favaloro

In a considerable break with tradition, the biggest night on the Australian country music calendar will be co-hosted by three fresh faces when the Golden Guitar awards are held on Saturday night to conclude the annual Tamworth Country Music Festival.

For singer-songwriters Caitlyn Shadbolt, Melanie Dyer and Sinead Burgess, it’s a major opportunity freighted with plenty of unknowns.

“I’m a little bit anxious, because it’s a huge role to be hosting,” Shadbolt said. “It’s nerve-racking, but I’m excited because I get to host with two of my great girl friends.”

None of the three has yet won a Golden Guitar, although Burgess is a finalist this year in the new talent category for her single Reno. “I know everybody works really hard and pours so much of their life and time into their music, so it’s nice to have that little bit of recognition for what you’re doing,” she said.

In the lead-up to the biggest night of their respective careers, Nashville-based Burgess has been enjoying an extended Christmas break with family near Brisbane, while Dyer and Shadbolt have been doing the usual frantic Tamworth juggle of performing concerts, meeting fans and cheering on fellow musicians late into the night whenever packed schedules allow it.

“It’s a massive party,” Dyer said. “It’s the only time you can run around and catch all your favourite people at a gig within the 10 days. You totally wear yourself out; everybody needs a holiday after Tamworth, but it’s the best thing.”

On the decision to name three lesser-known co-hosts for the 48th annual Golden Guitar awards, executive producer Peter Ross said: “It’s part of the succession planning of the genre but also making sure we have opportunities for those younger, up-and-coming artists to prove themselves and put themselves out there in front of the wider crowd.”