The Americana Music Association, Chugg Entertainment and Essence Music Group have partnered to create A Taste of Americana, featuring Old Crow Medicine Show and Valerie June performing a week’s worth of shows in Australia between Sept. 28 and Oct. 3. The Tennessee Department of Tourist Development, the Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp. will sponsor the series of concerts.The shows will take place at Brisbane’s The Tivoli on Thursday, Sept. 28, Melbourne’s Forum Theatre on Sunday on Oct. 1, and closing with an all-ages show at the Enmore Theatre in Sydney on Tuesday, Oct. 3.
“What a thrill to partner with Tennessee Tourism, Chugg Entertainment and the Essence Group to further expand our mission to advocate for the authentic voice of Roots Music Around the World” said Jed Hilly, executive director of the Americana Music Association. “It’s been a thrill to see how Americana has resonated and the Taste of Americana tour will be a foundation for artistic collaboration on a global scale.”
The brand campaign for Tennessee tourism is, “The Soundtrack of America. Made in Tennessee” and promotes Tennessee as the global music destination of choice. Australia is Tennessee’s fourth-highest international market for visitation behind Canada, UK and Germany with more than 27,000 coming to The Volunteer State in 2016, an increase of 31% over the past five years according to Tourism Economics. That number is expected to grow with the addition of flights from Sydney to Dallas earlier this year making it easier for Australians to travel to Memphis and Nashville. The competition from the new flights also brought the costs down significantly.
On Monday, Oct. 2, A Taste of Americana will include a special musical program, Australian Americana Honours Night: A Roots Music Celebration at the Thornbury Theatre in Melbourne. This show is inspired by the critically acclaimed Americana Honors & Awards, taped annually at Ryman Auditorium in Nashville and being broadcast on the Country Music Channel (CMC) in Australia later this year.
The Melbourne show will feature artists from the USA and Australia including Old Crow Medicine Show, Valerie June, Kevin Welch, Kasey Chambers, Bernard Fanning, Busby Marou and others. The Americana Music Association will also present two special Vanguard Awards to artist Kasey Chambers and Out on the Weekend Promoter Brian “BT” Taranto recognizing their valuable contributions to the genre and community of Americana.
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Hollabaugh, a staff writer at MusicRow magazine, has over 20 years of music business experience and has written for publications including American Profile, CMA Close Up, Nashville Arts And Entertainment, The Boot and Country Weekly. She has a Broadcast Journalism and Speech Communication degree from Texas Christian University, (go Horned Frogs), and welcomes your feedback or story ideas at lhollabaugh@musicrow.com.View Author Profile
