Well here it is –the first newsletter for 2018. It’s a little late, due to being at Hartwood. It sure has been a hectic past three months which kicked off with the Tamworth Country Music Festival. This was a busy 10days with some extremelyhot weather but,overall,it was successful,along with the couple of solo shows which had good attendances and appreciative audiences. The show I shared with Graham Rodger again this year was a sell-out,as well as my annual visit out to the Dag Sheep Station at Nundle,where I managed to have a packed house once again. Graham has already confirmed we will be teaming up again to present another show in Tamworth 2019.Lady luck did manage to drop by me this year, picking up a Brumby Award for Bush Ballad of the Year with the song,“Behind the Boundary Gate”although she didn’t stay long,as my nomination at Bungendore for the Male Vocal was unsuccessful. I think I have to say the album itself has been one of my best to date, making it hard to follow up on what do fo the next album.

On mentioning albums,I managed to get into the studio to start a new oneand am hoping to have it ready for release in April 2019. With the touring schedule mapped out for this year and a new venture taking place in early November,finding time to get into the studio is a difficult task, so fingers crossed it will all come together on time.

Early February,I headed out to Hartwoodto start preparing for this year’s festival and in the last few days have just got home from a successful Hartwood-now trying to catch up on things before hitting the road for this year’s tours. It was great to catch up with many fans again at Hartwoodand I would like to send a sincere special thanks to a wonderful team of volunteers who have got behind us to continue the success of Hartwood Campfires and Country Music-must say there weren’ta lot of campfires this year,as the weather was still quite warm into the late evening. It’smid-April and we’restill getting temps up into the mid 30’s!

Touring, our first stop this year will be atthe IllaboCMF on Saturday 21st& Sunday 22ndApril (performance times to be confirmed). Following on from Illabo,I’ve been invited back to Ardlethan for their music and talent quest weekend on Saturday 28th& Sunday 29thApril. On Sunday 6thMay,I’ll be returning to the Young Bowling Club to do a show,then over to Leeton for a private function.On Friday 18th, 19th& 20thMay, I’ll be appearing at the Wagga Country Music Festival, before heading down to Barham for the Balladeers’Muster on 25th, 26th& 27thMay.

From Barham,we will then start our journey headingfor Daly Waters NT, where I have a nine week stop-over,performing nightly from 10thJune. New management has taken over operations up there so I guess I can say I’ve been lucky to get invited back. No one night is ever the same so you never know just what the night isgoing to bring -most of all,a lot of fun,with the serious side as well.

AfterDaly Waters,we’ll make our way back to Camooweal for the Drovers’ Festival in late August and hopefully in the next newsletter,I can bring you up to date with the entertainment line-up for Camoowealthis year. From Camooweal,we’ll makeour way back toNT again,heading for Western Australia. Details for shows over there arestill in the planning phase,but rest assured,I’ll be doing something.

Well folks, that’s the news for this quarter. Due to being in Daly Waters, the next Newsletter may be delayed a little, asinternet and phone receptionis poor, so don’t worry if you don’t receive the June newsletter until July. I’ll look forward to catching up with you somewhere, sometime, soon.

Regards, Tom