Toyota, Southern Cross Ten, sign on for Golden Guitar awards
Tamworth’s country music awards, the Golden Guitars, celebrate their 43rd year with Toyota coming on board as naming rights sponsor and Southern Cross Ten as broadcasting sponsor.
The awards are held on Saturday January 24 at the Tamworth Regional Entertainment & Conference Centre (TRECC) before an audience of 5,000.
Southern Cross Ten will screen the event in early February through its regional channel 11 networks.
Roger Corbett, the Vice Chair of the Country Music Association of Australia (CMAA), which stages the Golden Guitars, said, “The partnership will take the awards to more Australians than ever before and that’s exciting.”
Tony Cramb, Executive Director of Sales and Marketing for Toyota Australia pointed out, “The Golden Guitars – Country Music Awards of Australia is such an iconic event. The company is proud to extend its support to the event which complements our broader support of country music. It’s Toyota’s way of saying thank you to everyone who has supported the brand, its vehicles and its national dealer network for over half a century.”
Toyota has sponsored Australian country music activities since 1993, not surprising as half its retail sales at that time were from the bush. In the last 15 years, the CMAA has been attracting more corporate support by rebranding the music as “real stories, real people” and shedding its ‘hayseed’ image. The CMAA’s past research showed a high degree of support for country music in urban areas. 32% of Australians revealed in 2000 that they are country music fans, 18% nominating it as their second favourite style after pop and rock (46%). Since then, the crossover of Australian and international acts to the mainstream has been steady.
The Golden Guitars trophy stands 24cm high (with base) and weighs 1.5kgs. Each is individually made by country music identity John Minson.
Finalists for the awards are led by Kasey Chambers and Luke O’Shea with six nominations, and John Williamson and Adam Harvey with five. Dean Perrett is up for four, with The McClymonts, Lyn Bowtell, Kristy Cox, Harmony James and McAlister Kemp for three. Keith Urban, a former winner of the Tamworth Country Music Festival’s Star Maker, vies for single and video of the year.
Two Golden Guitars have already been presented, when the list of finalists was announced at a ceremony in Sydney. Dolly Parton’s Blue Smoke took Top Selling International Album, and the Sanity Top Selling Australian Album was won by The McClymonts for Here’s To You & I.
The Golden Guitars are part of the Toyota Country Music Festival Tamworth, which runs from Friday January 16 to Sunday January 25. It is supported bythe NSW Government through its tourism and major events agency Destination NSW.