I wander down Peel Street on another balmy day, and find a ready range of festival goers who are willing to help Tell it like it is for my blog – no worries, these people are comfortable in their own skin, and happy to share with us what brings them to Tamworth.

For most, I get the feeling it is more about the people, than the music. People say they come here for the mateship, the chance to catch up with friends, some they only see once a year, or the chance to meet new people. They usually mention the friendly atmosphere first, with the music listed as an “of course” tag-along.

Kindred spirits make for ready friends.

Perhaps country music attracts people who are warm hearted and open to others – people whose heart has always been in the right place, or years of music as therapy has got it there.

Many Don’t Forget to Remember Me and have been coming back for years – Stetsons well worn in.

With A Love That Will Never Grow Old, many are more Woodstock than Big Day Out. Tamworth fans are better behaved than the average music festival goer of other genres and with decades of involuntarily acquired maturity, their controlled substances of choice here look more likely to be Bourbon and Viagra.

Last night’s sell-out Telstra Road to Tamworth final blasted me into 2010, with some amazing performances by the country’s new young talent…but more on that soon, with video of me disgracing myself in a demi-duet with local Tamworth sweetheart, Felicity Urquhart.

Songsheet:

• Tell it like it is – Aaron Neville
• Don’t Forget to Remember Me – Carrie Underwood
• A Love That Will Never Grow Old – Emmylou Harris