New Wave Of Country Crashing Tamworth's Grand Party

A new wave of country music is making its presence felt at the Tamworth Country Music Festival this week as Australia's biggest music festival reacts to a changing face of the genre.

Notoriously resistant to change from external perspectives, this year's festival is showcasing some of the young emerging talent that is springing from burgeoning scenes across the east coast. No longer strictly the domain of bush balladeers and pop-country hopefuls, genre variations like Americana and southern rock are starting to push through and be recognised.

Melbourne's sure-to-be-big crooner Marlon Williams is one of the most talked about names around industry circles this week and held Toyota Park captivated for last night's Americana showcase – the night's program itself a step in the right direction for the festival to showcase the genre on its biggest stage.

Ruby Boots' new single Middle Of Nowhere – which has picked up some afternoon triple j play this week – grew in stature when played live, while Sydney songsmiths Katie Brianna and Jenny Queen both impressed in short four-to-five song sets.

Bluegrass breakthroughs Mustered Courage graced Toyota Park for the second year in a row and – perhaps more importantly – had a healthy crowd at the 'Fan Zone' stage. The free stage on Peel Street plays host to most of the festival's biggest names through the ten-day stretch and the size of a crowd an artist attracts during their 'preview' set is a good indicator of their profile. Today Mustered Courage's crowd was comparable to the more 'traditional' Tamworth acts like The McClymonts and The Viper Creek Band.

Tamworth favourite Catherine Britt has enjoyed touches of crossover success in the past and her annual show at The Pub's Bill Chambers Room featured a range of guests. Alongside well known country names like Jasmine Rae, Beccy Cole and The McClymonts (one of the better guest spots), Henry Wagons also received strong response from her audience. In a genre where the standard crowd behaviour is to sit down, clap loudly and then line up for hours to get merch signed, Wagons' stage presence was challenging – and that's a good thing.

His own headline show will sell out by the time it starts and shows from country-punk Sydney party starters Little Bastard and southern rock purveyours Adam Eckersley Band are also on the menu in coming days. There's even a strong rumour that pop group Sheppard will make a guest appearance tonight.

This diversity isn't new, last year All Our Exes Live In Texas and The Perch Street Family Jug Band brought a bit of indie-cred to the event, but 2015 feels like a real breakthrough for the festival.

The other side of the coin is that visual estimates suggest attendance is down. Rain is playing its part in keeping Peel Street (where buskers line the street and live music emits from every cafe) quieter than usual but it was also noticable that Britt and Shane Nicholson's showcases weren't packed to the rafters. Their shows are festival staples.

Amidst it all, however, the atmosphere around Tamworth is among the best you'll find at any festival – regardless of size, genre or location. Certainly, for regular council-funded events that consume cities around Australia Tamworth's vibe has to be close to the best. As it always is.