Golden Guitars a battle of the ages
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Finalists Aleyce Simmonds, Jasmine Rae, Ashleigh Dallas, Sara Storer and sisters Brooke Maree McClymont, Samantha Kate McClymont and Mollie Therese McClymont.
Source: News Limited
THE 2014 Golden Guitars will be a contest between Generation X and Y.
The artists who took Australian country music into the mainstream in the 1990s, led by Lee Kernaghan, Troy Cassar-Daley and Kasey Chambers, have mentored the next wave of artists who are up for the prestigious awards in January.
Kernaghan and his Beautiful Noise album topped the tally board with seven nominations including Album Of The Year and Best Male Artist.
He was closely followed by Casser-Daley and Adam Harvey with their popular The Great Country Songbook record and Sara Storer with her acclaimed album Lovegrass.
Among the new artists recognised by the Country Music Association Of Australia are The Wolfe Brothers, who toured with Kernaghan and Ashleigh Dallas who was discovered by Chambers and opened for Cassar-Daley’s concerts.
Troy Cassar-Daley, Adam Harvey and Lee Kernaghan lead the nominees for the 2014 CMAA Country Music Awards of Australia. Picture: Cameron Richardson
Source: News Limited
Kernaghan credited festivals including the Deni Ute Muster for attracting big crowds of younger fans to country music.
“We took these young artists out with us when no-one had ever heard of them and after a while, they get our No. 1s and they are winning our ARIAs and Golden Guitars,” Kernaghan joked.
Unlike their pop peers, female artists are heavily represented in the nominations, with Storer and Jasmine Rae contesting Album of The Year.
Rae scored three nominations this year, including Single Of The Year for If I want To.
And while The McClymonts planned a hiatus after eldest sister Brooke welcomed her first child Tiggy, they still managed to sneak in a nomination for Video Of The Year.
Another popular nominee with four nods is husband and wife duo O’Shea, who took the risk of following in Keith Urban’s footsteps to try their luck in Nashville.
Urban also scored four nominations.
Mark and Jay said he had opened the door for Australian artists to maintain careers both in Australia and the US.
“When I first started there was a chasm between Tamworth and Nashville and Kieth bridged the gap,” Mark O’Shea said.
“It used to be laughable in Nashville for an Australian to sing country music.”
His wife Jay said American country superstars who have toured Australia in recent years had also been instrumental in spreading the word about our country music scene.
There was an amusing moment during the nominations event when the final tally was announced and Cassar-Daley and Harvey were mistakenly put on a par with Kernaghan with seven instead of their official six nods.
It mirrored the chart glitch which saw the No. 1 debut of their Great Country Songbook changed to No. 2 and Kanye West elevated to the top spot after a recount of sales.
The mix-up at yesterday’s event briefly earned their mate the nickname Lee “Kanye” Kernaghan.
The Country Music Awards of Australia will be held in Tamworth on January 25.
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Beautiful Noise – Lee Kernaghan
Fuse – Keith Urban
If I Want To – Jasmine Rae
Lovegrass – Sara Storer
The Great Country Songbook – Troy Cassar-Daley & Adam Harvey
MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Keith Urban – Little Bit Of Everything
Lee Kernaghan – Flying With The King
Luke Austen – Let’s Just Go With It
Pete Denahy – Sayonara Nakamura
Russell Morris – Squizzy
FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Aleyce Simmonds – Believe
Ashleigh Dallas – Me
Dianna Corcoran – Therapy
Jasmine Rae – If I Want To
Sara Storer – Lovegrass
GROUP OR DUO OF THE YEAR
Kaylens Rain – Waiting On A Bus
O’Shea – Thank You Angels
The Greencards – Black, Black Water
The Sunny Cowgirls – Green and Gold
The Wolfe Brothers – The Girl, The Bottle, The Memory
SINGLE OF THE YEAR
Flying With The King – Lee Kernaghan
If I Want To – Jasmine Rae
Lights On The Hill – Troy Cassar-Daley & Adam Harvey
Little Bit Of Everything – Keith Urban
Lovegrass – Sara Storer
For full list of nominations, go to www.country.com.au
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