Tamworth Country Music Festival industry seminar/workshops
19 January 2024
Australia’s Country Music Bulletin and Capital Country Radio have organised a series of industry seminar/workshops to be held during the 2024 Tamworth Country Music Festival.
Four will be conducted, all at 2pm each day Monday to Thursday January 22 to 25 at the Australian Country Music Hall of Fame at the southern end of Tamworth’s main street, Peel Street.
All sessions are designed to run for one hour, or potentially a little longer if attendees desire, but organisers recognise most people involved in the festival in one way or another don’t have a lot of time to spare, said activity co-ordinator Bob Kirchner.
Monday’s session will be titled What Is Country Music? and will give attendees the opportunity to discuss where Australian country music is today and what the future may, could or should hold. Panellists will include leading and long-time industry participant, observer and photo-journalist John Elliott.
Tuesday’s session will focus on Trends in Country Music Recording and particularly what role artificial intelligence could play in the future of music creation and recording… what will be the advantages and/or disadvantages? Panellists will include producer and audio engineer Steve Newton of the Country Music Capital based Enrec Studios.
Wednesday’s session will focus on Australian Country Music Marketing in the new age environment, specifically as it relates to publicity and promotion… how to get the best out of media, new and traditional, and the opportunity for artists to workshop any marketing issues or problems they have. Panellists for this session will include independent record label operator, promotion and PR specialist Nardia Drayton of RTC Records.
Thursday’s session will be dedicated to Australian Country Music Broadcasting, giving broadcasters, commercial, national and community, the opportunity to discuss trends, issues and opportunities in the ever-changing media landscape. This session will also provide an opportunity for broadcasters to congratulate and pay tribute to the 2024 Australian Country Music Broadcasters Hall of Fame inductee/s who will have been announced during the People’s Choice Awards which are being staged that morning.
Numbers for each session will be strictly limited. Admission will be free on a first come first served basis. Donations to the Hall of Fame, which is supporting the event by providing the venue, will be encouraged.
“We consider activities like these to be very important for the broader Australian country music industry,” Bob Kirchner said.
Bob has had a long involvement in the sector and continues to be directly involved via the Country Music Bulletin, Capital Country Radio and Australian Country Music People’s Choice Awards.
“We are starting small for this first round of activities,” he said “As we say, we understand people are very busy in Tamworth at this time of year so that could limit people’s ability to be involved.
“But if we get a larger response we will look at increasing capacity in years to come and may even look at doing something during the Hats Off Festival which is not as busy as the January event.
Registration for the seminar/workshops can be made by clicking the link at the top of the Capital County Radio website index page… www.capitalcountryradio.com.