Fresh from the Australian Joys of Spring album launch just a few days ago at Gertrude’s Brown Couch in Melbourne, John Fairhurst has revealed the first confirmed dates in his 2010 tour. On January 11th, with one ticket for him, one for his guitar, and armed with a video camera, he’s starting up Australia’s East Coast on a busking tour. From Melbourne, John will head up to Sydney, busking along the way, in time to record a session at independent radio station and distributor Sideways Through Sound.

From there he’ll set off for Brisbane, then on to the Australian Country Music Busking Championships at Tamworth Country Music Festival. The competition takes place on Tamworth’s Peel Street, and festival goers turn out in droves with their deckchairs and sun shades to watch the acts.

This is more than your average busk to coax some loose change out of the public’s pockets, however. As well as a $1,400 cash prize and the chance to perform at the festival’s closing ceremony, talent scouts from major record labels have been known to pounce on precocious talent in previous years.

Past competition winners include EMI Australia’s country music star Troy Cassar-Daley, and the edgy Kasey Chambers-performing here with her husband Shane Nicholson.

Check back here for news of John’s progress through the outback, before he heads to the USA for the next leg of the Joys of Spring tour.

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 3rd, 2010 at 11:03 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.