With a new sound and a new confidence, country singer Casey Barnes plays the Groundwater Country Music Festival (GCMF) this July.
Casey has performed at the beach-side stage several times since the festival’s inception (as the Broadbeach Country Music Festival). “It keeps getting bigger and better every year, and this year it’s going to a whole, new level,” Casey says.
“I’m really excited to be back.”
For Casey, one of the best parts of local, country festivals is playing alongside a line-up of friends. “Everyone’s out there trying to help each other,” he says.
“There’s no rivalry. It’s just a good vibe, and that’s what I love about country music.”
Casey's third studio album was released in 2016, but it is his latest singles that have garnered him the most attention of his career.
In January, he took his first trip down the Golden Guitar Awards’ red carpet as a finalist in the ‘New Talent Of The Year’ category.
While Casey isn’t a traditional newcomer to the music industry, he felt that the nomination meant he had finally made it to the big league of the country scene in Australia. “I’ve been at it for a long time, but… one thing that I really do admire about [the country music industry] is they sort of make you earn your stripes and put in the hard yards,” he says.
“I guess for a lot of people I am still a newcomer, and it’s nice. This year has sort of been a breakthrough year for me.”
The singer credits Melbourne production and songwriting duo MSquared for transforming his sound over the past 12 months, leading to the release last month of his new album, ‘The Good Life'. “The three of us generally work well together and equally contribute different things. We’ve all got our own strengths in terms of writing,” Casey says.
“Something magical seems to happen.”
After slots at major festivals in the US last year, where the singer performed alongside the likes of Lady Antebellum and Kip Moore, he’s interested in adding a fresh flavour to the local scene with ‘The Good Life'.
“It’s probably unlike a lot of country music that is coming out of Australia at the moment, and I deliberately didn’t want to sound like everyone else,” Casey says.
“It’s got a bit of an international, modern country sound to it. Hopefully it’s something that’s going to be well received here in Australia. I’m really excited about it all.”
The singer certainly thinks the timing is right, with more and more country acts breaking through and getting widespread commercial radio play. GCMF had over 54,000 attendees in 2017.
Are Aussies getting over the stigma associated to country music? “A lot of Australians have this conception in their head of what country music is, but it’s evolving and there’s definitely something for everyone now,” Casey says.
Prime examples are the singer’s guinea pigs for new material – his two daughters, who are in kindergarten and grade 4, have had exclusive access to their Dad’s unreleased tracks. “My two girls are always my best barometers, because they give me really honest feedback,” he says.
“The songs they’ve been singing along to in the car are the ones I think are going to do well.”
It won’t be long before the rest of his fans can hear what Casey’s been working on, and he’s excited to play new tracks to the Gold Coast during GCMF. “This festival, in particular, is actually in my own home town… so that makes it even more special,” he says.
