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GOLDEN GUITAR AWARDS: Our special rolling coveragePHOTOS From the red carpet
THE CEREMONY Photos from the big event
ONE of the coveted Golden Guitars has remained in Tamworth with First time Golden Guitar winner ASHLEIGH DALLAS awarded BEST NEW TALENT.
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Ashleigh is a third generation country artist and Tamworth local who was discovered by Kasey Chambers
Lee Kernaghan and Sara Storer have cemented their places as king and queen of Australian country music at 42nd Country Music Awards of Australia.
LEE KERNAGHAN scored MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR, CMC VIDEO CLIP OF THE YEAR, SINGLE OF THE YEAR and the SANITY TOP SELLING AUSTRALIAN ALBUM OF THE YEAR adding another four trophies to his already impressive collection.
Lee's award winning song ‘Flying with the King’, a tribute to Slim Dusty was part of the night’s theme, with the country music icon and his wife, Joy McKean saluted throughout the show’s presentation.
SARA STORER’s return after a hiatus was heralded with no less than three Golden Guitars. Taking out the coveted ALBUM OF THE YEAR award was the icing on the country cake that also included FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR and Vocal COLLABORATION OF THE YEAR with John Williamson.
LUKE O’SHEA and DREW McALISTER collected awards in Heritage Song of the Year and APRA Song of the Year for the LUKE O’SHEA recording of ‘Lady Of the Land’, written by both and recorded by Luke O’Shea as a tribute to Slim’s Dusty’s wife, Joy McKean.
While PETE DENAHY might have kept the crowd entertained with hilarious back stage crosses to award winners and country stars, he had to leave his post to collect his Golden Guitar for INSTRUMENTAL OF THE YEAR
A special highlight of the night was the presentation of THE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD to TED EGAN
With a career spanning over forty years, Ted has recorded 30 albums, written ten books and presented on 13 episodes of the hour -long documentary ‘This Land Australia. Along with the Golden Guitar trophy, Ted's contribution to the industry was recognised with a performance of his song Drover’s Boy.
The full list of winners for the 42nd CMAA Country Music Awards of Australia is as follows:
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Lovegrass - Sara Storer, produced by Matt Fell
ALTERNATIVE COUNTRY ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Black Coffee - Lachlan Bryan and The Wildes, produced by Lachlan Bryan, Mat Duniam, Shaun Ryan and Rod McCormack
MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR Lee Kernaghan - Flying With The King
FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR Sara Storer - Lovegrass
GROUP OR DUO OF THE YEAR O'Shea - Thank You Angels
VOCAL COLLABORATION OF THE YEAR Pozie - Sara Storer & John Williamson
TOYOTA HERITAGE SONG OF THE YEAR Lady of the Land - written by Luke O'Shea & Drew McAlister, recorded by Luke O'Shea
BUSH BALLAD OF THE YEAR
I Love Australia - written by Keith Jamieson, recorded by Jeff Brown
INSTRUMENTAL OF THE YEAR Cotton Eyed Joe - Pete Denahy
QANTASLINK NEW TALENT OF THE YEAR
Ashleigh Dallas - Me
APRA SONG OF THE YEAR
Lady of the Land - written by Luke O'Shea & Drew McAlister, recorded by Luke O'Shea
CMC VIDEO CLIP OF THE YEAR
Flying With The King - Lee Kernaghan, directed by Duncan Toombs
SINGLE OF THE YEAR
Flying With The King - Lee Kernaghan
TOP SELLING INTERNATIONAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Red – Taylor Swift (Universal Music)
SANITY TOP SELLING AUSTRALIAN ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Beautiful Noise – Lee Kernaghan (ABC Music)
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD Ted Egan