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KASEY CHAMBERS and Carter & Carter have been named Australia's top entertainers at this year's Australian Country Music Achiever Awards in Sydney.
In a repeat of last year's presentations, Kasey was named Toyota Entertainer of the Year for the second year running, as were Carter & Carter with the Independent Entertainer of the Year title (Entertainer of the Year is for acts signed to major labels or distribution while the Independent award is for those without major signing or distribution).
Grenville Turner, owner/operator of leading Australian music distributor One Stop Entertainment, was named winner of the prestigious Industry Achiever Award.
Dynamic record label Compass Bros Records was named winner of the Capital News Major Record Company of the Year award while Shoestring Records won Independent Record Company of the Year.
ABC Music Publishing took out Pages Event Equipment Publishing Company of the Year, also for the second year running, while leading record producer Rod McCormack was named Producer of the Year.
Cori Hopper, a relative newcomer to the country music scene, took out the Country Music Channel Video Director of the Year title while Mike Smith, owner/operator of NfS Publicity and Editor of Country Music Capital News, was named winner of Media Achiever of the Year.
The Brisbane-based Country Music Store took out the Retailer of the Year award, also for the second time running, while Kasey Chambers was named winner of the PPCA (Phonographic Performance Company of Australia) Award for Most Broadcast Country Artist.
Winners were announced during a gala presentation tonight (Monday, September 15) at the Canterbury-Hurlstone Park RSL Club.
"Six new famous country music names were immortalised in
concrete in Country Music Capital's Hands of Fame in Tamworth
at the 2003 Awards
The 2003 Hands of Fame names were announced by the Australian
Country Music Foundation at the Roll of Renown Concert . They
included... Pat Drummond and long time touring partner and
friend, Andrew Clermont, Andrew Clermont is one of Australia's
best-known country instrumentalists. A multi Golden Guitar finalist,
he has travelled all over Australia and the world playing his
music and has released a number of albums. Pat Drummond was cited
as " a songwriter whose songs about real people capture the
Australian spirit and who has had much success as an entertainer
and recording artist over the years including being named Independent
Artist of the Year at the 2000 Australian Independent Country
Music Awards." In a reference to Pat's label, 'Shoestring
Records' and his work on the board of Country Music Association
of Australia, Presenter Jim Brown also stated that Pat "had
done more than any other artist to heal the divisions between
Independents and Signed artists in Australian Country Music."
The Country Music Hands Of Fame Cornerstone was established in Tamworth, Australia's Country Music Capital, in 1977 as a tribute to people who had made a name for themselves in Australian country music. Inductees are determined by the Australian Country Music Foundation (ACMF) on behalf of Tamworth City Council and announced at the annual Roll of Renown Concert during the January country music festival in Tamworth. The cornerstone is located in Hands of Fame Park (originally CWA Park) at the corner of Kable Avenue and Brisbane Street, Tamworth. Hand imprinting takes place during the annual Carlton Tamworth Country Music Festival each January on the main Saturday of the Festival at 9.15am
The other major award came when Naked Poets 3 won "Album Of The Year" at The 2003 Bush Laureate Awards completing the hatrick for these amazingly successful albums. A capacity audience in Tamworth's famous Town Hall witnessed the seventh annual presentation of the Awards .
As The Northern Daily Leader reported
"In a moving tribute to the late Bobby Miller, the group's producer and singer/songwriter member Pat Drummond, flanked by his fellow Naked Poets and Sandy Miller, told the capacity audience
"The Rush" from the "Six Days In December" album has won the "TSA 2001 Contemporary Country Song Of The Year" Award against a very strong field that included Slim Dusty' s tour de force 'Looking Forward Looking Back' (penned by rock luminary and ex- Cold Chisel Keyboard man Don Walker). Karen and Pat were absolutely thrilled with the award which was presented at the TSA Awards at Wests Leagues in Tamworth Festival in January. "Writing for us has always been the main game," said Pat at the Awards, "so this is a great honour indeed." "The Rush", a duet specifically written by Pat and Karen for their duets project had already been awarded both the 2000 Stan Coster Award and The Kerry Flood Memorial Awards last year in Charters Towers .
Naked Poets Tour of Queensland
The Naked Poets , tour Victoria NSW and Queens land in May; following up last years highly succesful national tour. That tour which concentrated on the large Regional cultural Centres and ticketed by Ticketek saw them selling out completely in Brisbane and doing large numbers at Entertainment Centres along the North Coast. Tour photos at http://www.nakedpoets.com