‘MUSIC SAVED MY MARRIAGE’

AFTER HIS WORLD WAS TURNED UPSIDE DOWN, THE SINGER’S WORK PULLED HIM THROUGH

He is a country music legend who’s performed around the world and won multiple gongs, including 37 Golden Guitar Awards. But juggling a life on the road as a musician and being a good husband hasn’t always been easy for Troy Cassar-daley.

Speaking to New Idea, Troy admits that his career has put a lot of pressure on his marriage with wife Laurel Edwards.

“I was losing my marriage for well over two and a half years through work-life balance issues,” he says.

On top of that, the singer reveals that he lost his father through “sudden circumstances” in 2019, and then he lost “his purpose as a musician” when COVID-19 put a halt to all his live gigs.

But making his latest album, The World Today, helped Troy get through the tough times he had been experiencing.

“These songs helped me cope as I wound my way around navigating the heartache and pouring myself into each song. Each one gave me more reason to try harder and to get through,” he says.

“I think it’s accepting that we have good and bad times in our lives, our marriages, and the way something like COVID-19 can turn our livelihoods upside down in all walks of life. It’s good to be honest and it helps to write about it.”

Troy also credits his wife with allowing him to get into the studio. “My wife turned to me in a clothes shop here in Brisbane and said, ‘You should go do this record, Troy. Regardless of it meaning you’ll be away for a whole month, just go do your thing and be creative,’ – that support put me on my way,” he says.

“That was the moment I was ready to try and create an honest record with songs of truth written in one of the strangest and darkest times we’ve all experienced.”