Home gig for Casey

Country star to play Groundwater

COUNTRY roads will take Gold Coast singer and songwriter Casey Barnes home to the festival where he belongs when he plays the inaugural Groundwater Country Music Festival.

Barnes will join US acts Granger Smith (featuring Earl Dibbles Jnr), Lillie Mae and Joshua Hedley and Aussie greats The McClymonts, Adam Harvey, O’Shea and Catherine Britt & The Cold Cold Heart on the bill for the free Groundwater Festival, previously known as the Broadbeach Country Music Festival, from July 27-29.

Barnes, who made his first appearance at the festival when it debuted in 2012, said the event had cemented its status as Australia’s fastest growing country music festival and helped him reconnect with his country music origins.

“I’m so excited to be back and part of one of my favourite country music festivals on the Australian calendar,” he said. “Not only is it in my home town of the Gold Coast but they were a real launch-pad for me from the start.

“The festival keeps on getting bigger and better every year and I can’t wait to play all the songs off my new album in July.”

After a ripper 2017 that saw him cement his status as a leading country music artist, 2018 Golden Guitar finalist Barnes is preparing to release a new single, Ain’t Coming Home (February 16), new album The Good Life (March 9) and make his debut on the bill for the CMC Rocks Music Festival at Ipswich in March.

Barnes and The McClymonts will play back-toback sets in Groundwater’s Big Top stage in Pratten Park, which proved a hit with fans when it debuted among the event’s stable of 10 stages last year.

Groundwater’s first lineup announcement also includes Bill Chambers, Troy Kemp, Kirsty Lee Akers, Travellin’ Still: The Songs of Slim Dusty with Pete Denahy & The Travelling Country Band, The Hillbilly Goats, Hurricane Fall, Doug Bruce, The Morrisons, Melody Moko and Country Music Cocktails, with more acts to be an- nounced in coming weeks.

Event organisers Broadbeach Alliance say last year’s fifth annual event in July attracted a record 54,000 people – a 77 per cent increase on 2016.

Groundwater director Mark Duckworth said the Broadbeach festival had quickly gained a reputation for bringing together a collection of artists who work together to create a genuine festival feel.

“This line-up combines the best of Australian talent from the mainstream to the fringes of our land while fusing them with the authentic sounds of Nashville and Texas,” he said.