Large Pool of new talent emerges for 2016 Golden Guitar Awards 

The 2016 Country Music Association of Australia (CMAA) Golden Guitar Awards Finalists were today announced at a special industry gathering in Sydney.

The 75 finalists were selected from over 500 nominations and offer an exciting balance between industry heavy weights and the emergence of newer artists.

The 2016 Toyota Golden Guitar Awards sees debut nominations for a number of artists including 2015 Toyota Star Maker Mickey Pye, 2014 X Factor finalists Caitlyn Shadbolt and Brothers3 all vying for QANTASLINK NEW TALENT OF THE YEAR.

Nominated for eight Golden Guitars, Lee Kernaghan is no stranger to the awards and leads the finalist's field with his album Spirit of the ANZACs. Lee is nominated for ALBUM OF THE YEAR, MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR, VOCAL COLLABORATION OF THE YEAR (Spirit of the Anzacs), TOYOTA HERITAGE SONG OF THE YEAR (Teddy Sheean - Forever Eighteen), VIDEO CLIP OF THE YEAR (Spirit of the Anzacs), SINGLE OF THE YEAR (Spirit of the Anzacs) and SANITY TOP SELLING AUSTRALIAN ALBUM OF THE YEAR.

Beccy Cole and Catherine Britt lead the female finalists with six nods a piece and will be up against one another in a number of categories including ALBUM OF THE YEAR, FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR, VOCAL COLLABORATION OF THE YEAR, and TOYOTA HERITAGE SONG OF THE YEAR.

Nominated for seven Golden Guitars is Troy Cassar-Daley. The Brisbane based artist is one of Australia's most illustrious musicians and will celebrate his 35th year performing in Tamworth in 2016. Troy is nominated for ALBUM OF THE YEAR, MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR, TOYOTA HERITAGE SONG OF THE YEAR, and APRA AMCOS SONG OF THE YEAR with his album Freedom Ride. His song Two Weeks On, Two Weeks Off is up for VOCAL COLLABORATION OF THE YEAR and Take a Walk in My Country is finalist in the SINGLE OF THE YEAR and VIDEO CLIP OF THE YEAR categories.

Also receiving seven nominations is Shane Nicholson. The artist's album Hell Breaks Loose is his sixth solo album and is a finalist in the categories ALTERNATIVE COUNTRY ALBUM OF THE YEAR, MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR and SANITY TOP SELLING ALBUM OF THE YEAR. His single Secondhand Man is up for APRA AMCOS SONG OF THE YEAR, SINGLE OF THE YEAR and VIDEO CLIP OF THE YEAR, and Hermannsburg (the eighth song on Hell Breaks Loose) has been nominated for TOYOTA HERITAGE SONG OF THE YEAR. In addition to Nicholson's seven individual nominations, the multi-talented artist is also the Producer of Beccy Cole's album Sweet Rebecca which has been nominated for ALBUM OF THE YEAR. James Blundell (Come On In), Kevin Bennett and The Flood (Skin), Lachlan Bryan & The Wildes (The Mountain) and Mustered Courage (White Lies & Melodies) join Nicholson in the ALTERNATIVE ALBUM OF THE YEAR category, while international superstar Tommy Emmanuel (Blood Brothers), 8 Ball Aitken & Pete Denahy (Broken Hill), Pete Denahy (Cluck Old Hen), Michael Fix (Two Time Shuffle) and Mickey Pye (Unleashed) contend for the INSTRUMENTAL OF THE YEAR.

Other hotly contested categories include FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR, APRA AMCOS SONG OF THE YEAR, COUNTRY MUSIC CAPITAL NEWS GROUP OR DUO OF THE YEAR, BLUEGRASS RECORDING OF THE YEAR and BUSH BALLAD OF THE YEAR.

Minister for Trade, Tourism and Major Events Stuart Ayres, said the Tamworth Country Music Festival is recognised world-wide, attracts significant visitation to the State and delivers important economic and community benefits.

“Congratulations to all of the finalists announced today for the 2016 Golden Guitar Awards, the most prestigious award ceremony for the Australian Country Music Industry.

“The NSW Government is proud to support the Tamworth Country Music Festival through its tourism and major events agency Destination NSW, and we look forward to welcoming the many performers and visitors to Tamworth in January next year for a spectacular event,” Mr Ayres said.

Country Music Association of Australia Vice President Roger Corbett said that this has been an incredible year for Australian Country Music.

“Finalists across all categories this year are of the highest calibre. Our Male Artist of the Year category was extremely strong this year, and we had nearly 70 nominations in Qantaslink New Talent of the Year.

“We have also seen some of the most gifted ladies of country music contend for Female Artist of the Year, whilst the Bush Ballad Of The Year sees very strong contenders in the award for Australia's unique musical style.” Tony Cramb, Executive Director of Sales and Marketing for Toyota Australia, commented: “We're very excited to again be a part of the Golden Guitar Awards, it's such an important part of the country music industry and something we are Toyota are proud to support. The depth and calibre of the nominees, which includes a number of Toyota Star Makers is a great thing and we're already looking forward to the big night.” The Golden Guitar Awards is the pinnacle event of the Toyota Country Music Festival in Tamworth each year and the announcements have set up what will be a captivating evening when the winners are announced on the 23 January.

The Toyota Country Music Festival will be held from Friday 15 to Sunday 24 January 2016 with the Toyota Golden Guitar Awards on Saturday 23 January 2016 at the Tamworth Regional Entertainment and Conference Centre.

The Toyota Country Music Festival Tamworth is proudly supported by the NSW Government though its tourism and major events agency Destination NSW.

Tickets for the 44th Annual Toyota Golden Guitar Awards are on sale now and information is available from www.tcmf.com.au.

Stay tuned for updates on the announcers, musical performances, special guests and the latest Golden Guitar Awards news by checking out the official Toyota Country Music Festival website www.tcmf.com.au.

Full list of Toyota Golden Guitar Awards Finalists