We are giving away copy of the ‘April 25 EP’ to the first 20 people to enter your details here. Be sure to leave your full name and address so we can post it out to you!

JOIN US – on Anzac Day Eve for a very special Anzac thank you at the Empire Hotel, Annandale with special Guest Fred Smith, ‘ The Dust of Uruzgan’ fame.
More info on Anzac Day gigs with The Bushwackers here

Congratulations and thank you to all those who entered and Won.

Competition is now closed.

Anzac Eve
We are performing a very special show at The Empire Hotel in Annandale on Tuesday April 24th (Anzac Eve) at 8pm.

The Bushwackers were the first artists to record the iconic Anzac song ‘And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda’ back in the early 70’s and have kept a proud tradition of regularly performing on Anzac Day. Our more recent song that Roger Corbett wrote called, ‘April 25’ is a heartfelt tribute to all returned servicemen and women and indicative of the band’s commitment to the day.

This Anzac Eve Show will have a number of Anzac themed pieces from poems and readings to the great Anzac songs of our generation.

The Bushwackers, perform regularly at the Empire and with the great food and atmosphere it’s always a fantastic night of entertainment for the whole family.

CHILDREN under the age of 16, accompanied by an adult  are FREE.
Tickets will be available at the door. $20 Adult,  $15 concession (pensioners & students)
More info here

Anzac Day 
We are off to perform at Blacktown RSL in the heart of Sydney’s Western suburbs. We have played in Blacktown many times over the years and a tradition has been established with the crowd growing every year for a joyous celebration of all things Australian on Anzac Day. The Bushwackers are onstage from 12.30 – 3.00 and the gig is free admission. Children under supervision are welcome so let’s see the whole family get involved in Anzac Day this year.

Melbourne, we are heading your way… back at the Regal Ballroom for a Giant Bush Dance and Concert on March 3rd.

We want to see you and your friends for some Regal Bush Dancing!

Make up the most creative, inventive, crazy or downright Australian name for a new Bush Dance tune or step. We have tickets to the Regal Ballroom Bush Dance, plus The Dance Album and Book and a 40th Anniversary T-Shirt to give away to the 4 best entires as voted by The Bushwackers.

So get your clever thinking caps on, then hop on OR “LIKE” our Facebook page and leave your entry.

Competition starts NOW and ends Thursday 1st March at 12.00pm.
GOOD LUCK!

MORE INFO AND TO PURCHASE TICKETS CLICK HERE

Last Saturday night we put on our best threads and joined our country music community and audience to celebrate the Golden Guitars. We were delighted to collect the Toyota Heritage Song Of The Year for ‘I Am Australian’, Written by Dobe Newton and Bruce Woodley.

No longer can we claim it takes 29 years and 28 nominations between wins! After a long ‘losing streak’ (prior to our 2010 win for Bush Ballad with ‘Road To Thargomindah’ off Australian Songbook 2, when we broke the drought) . We are ecstatic to be on a ‘lucky streak’ and very proud of Dobe for his great and iconic song.

‘I Am Australian’ was written by Dobe Newton (The Bushwackers) and Bruce Woodley (The Seekers) in 1987. Bruce Woodley later recorded it with ‘The Seekers’ and it soaked into Australia’s consciousness. 

In 2011 we decided to record and release ‘I Am Australian’ as part of our 40th Anniversary year, coinciding with the release of the all-new recordings of ‘Official Dance Album’.

The ever-popular ‘Dance Album’ has the rare privilege of having pride of place in many Australian schools for the mandatory Bush Dance. A generation of Australians have grown up enjoying the music of the Bushwackers, loving bush dances and singing ‘I Am Australian’, so it seemed fitting that ‘I Am Australian’ be included.

Dobe made a great acceptance speech at the awards, thanking you, our audience for your long and enthusiastic support and the rest of us cheer him along with the sentiment; Roger Corbett, Mark Oats, Clare O’Meara, Michael Vidale, Ben Corbett, Brad Bergen, and of course Dobe Newton, all say thank you! Thanks for still listening, dancing, cheering, coming along to our shows and for being part of our history. We are still doing this because of you!

We have a few others we would like to thank:

• Our Team: Amanda O’Bryan, Lily Johnson, Mia Middleton, Paul and Colleen O’Bryan, Greg and Lynette Grimes.
• The Longyard Hotel: Joan Douglas and the amazing and enthusiastic staff at the Longyard along with Mike Vee.
• Country Music Association of Australia (CMAA)
• Tamworth Council: Tamworth Mayor, Col Murray. (We receive such generous support from the Tamworth city and the festival team).
• Destination Tamworth
• The Northern Daily Leader
 (Rebecca Belt, we love your work!)
• Tamworth and National Press
• National Country and Folk Music radio
• All the performers who come along and share the stage with us at our shows.
• WJO Distribution
• VW Amarok (for the great Ute we drove around in during Tamworth)
• Our friends and family who come along to our shows, take photos, lend a helping hand, usher, load gear, rally the troops and sometimes just hang out!
• and…YOU – thank you for being our audience!

“The often under-awarded but much-loved Bushwackers breathed new life into the classic I Am Australian, co-written by frontman Dobe Newton, taking out Toyota Heritage Song of the Year.

Dobe, who was dressed in a trademark suit with bright paint colours fashionably splashed across it made the band’s acceptance speech.

“Thank Christ I dressed up,” he said.

“I love you mate (to Roger Corbett). When we first came (to the Tamworth Country Music Festival) in 1981 we didn’t realise at the time we were becoming part of a community. Without our musical friends and city of Tamworth friends and fans we would have no career. Bless you and thank you very much.”

Read the Full Story HERE 

We have a HUGE year planned as the festival  celebrates it’s 40th anniversary year,  we will be there in full flight to help celebrate, kicking off the festival at the Official Opening concert in the park on Friday evening, 20th January…not to mention we are looking forward to the Golden Guitar awards, hoping to keep the winning streak alive and well with two nominations. We will keep you posted on that one!

Certainly the Giant Family Bush Dance at the Tamworth Town Hall on Wednesday 25th is a special one for us. The old town hall gets a work out with hundreds of dancing feet of all ages. Last year we had a rush of tickets at the door, so avoid the queues and get your tickets before the show.

For Bush Dance tickets and all our shows and ticket information click here

Woodford Festival should definitely be on every music lover’s ‘bucket list’. The diversity of entertainment from great folk music through pop, hip hop, country and national folkloric styles was amazing to witness and the standard of acts was simply astounding. We feel very privileged to have been a part of such a Festival. Its great to know that people of every age group find something in your music to enjoy and relate to. Click here to see pictures.

Onwards and upwards we go for 2012. Our next stop is the Tamworth Country Music Festival and we have a whole bunch of great shows along our nomination for 2 Golden Guitars. Click here for more info about The Bushwackers shows and events.

Altogether it’s a great outcome for our Dance Album and an amazing tribute to the musicianship and production of The Bushwackers albums.  We are very excited about being part of the mix and up against some very tough competition this year!

Two years ago we broke the drought on our long standing run of gold guitar nominations by winning our first Gold Guitar in 20 years. Bush Ballad Of The Year won the gong with ‘Road To Thargomindah’, so perhaps we are still on a winning streak? Only time will tell.  

You can join The Bushwackers and many more of Australia’s country music’s stars at the special 40th Anniversary Jayco CMAA Country Music Awards of Australia at the Tamworth Regional Entertainement Centre (TREC).  

CLICK HERE for more info

TICKETS HERE for The Bushwackers shows in Tamworth

The Woodford Folk Festival, an event of international standing, is held annually over six days and six nights from Dec 27th through to January 1st. More than 2000 performers and 580 events are programmed featuring local, national and international guests.

The Bushwackers are performing during the festival, so we hope to see many of you there!

You can catch us at:

Concert: 9.00am Tuesday 27th Dec

Concert: 11.45am Wednesday 28th Dec

Dance Hall: 9.30pm Lovers and Strangers Bush Dance 29th Dec

Dance Hall: 6.00pm Family Bush Dance 30th Dec

Duck: 11.45pm 31st Dec

Workshop 12.00 midday Songwriting 27th Dec

Workshop 4.00pm Aussie Fiddlers 27th Dec

CLICK HERE for more info on the Woodford Folk Festival