Country Music Skyline: Could Brisbane Become Australia’s Nashville?

Tamworth long had the bragging rights to being country music capital. Melbourne has more country music songwriters than any other city. 

Perth and Adelaide have fast growing scenes with more clubs popping up catering for the Stetsons set.

But from an international point of view, Brisbane is regarded as having the greatest claim to becoming the next Nashville.

In a recent article in TheMusic.com.au, Meredith Goucher, new Director of International Relations and Development at the Nashville-based Country Music Association (CMA), said that Brisbane could become Australia’s Nashville.

Before heading to BIGSOUND in Brisbane, Goucher spoke about the draw of Queensland’s festivals as CMC Rocks, Gympie Muster, Groundwater and Savannah In The Round and also focussed on Brisbane.

She pointed out how the city serves as headquarters for important national media as the 40-outlet KIX, iHeart Country and Countrytown as well as the Australian base for US indie label Big Loud.

“It’s the hub of country music in Australia. I think y’all are already there,” Goucher stressed.

Countrytown reached out to three major figures with strong ties to the Queensland country music scene – CMC Rocks co-founder and artist manager Michael Chugg, Justin Thomson at KIX Country and BIG LOUD Records’ Johnno Keetels – to find they generally agree with the CMA’s appraisal.

Chugg observed, “It could well be, Queensland is after all the country music state.

“With any visiting country act, you do a show at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, and you do two at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.

“There are similarities between the two cities. Nashville’s not just a country music city any more. It's a music city, full stop. 

“Some of the biggest acts in the world of all genres live in Nashville and record in Nashville.” 

It’s agreed that the Aussie country scene is not centralised in one city. At this stage, the focus is more as a combined Brisbane/SE Queensland.

But KIX/iHeart Country Australia’s Content Director Justin Thomson pinpointed immediate similarities between Brisbane and Nashville.

“They are very similar in size, they have a river running straight through the middle, the people are amazing and welcoming. It’s a perfect fit.

“Both are music cities, its people have the right idea about music and always listening to it. 

“Whether it’s the centre of Nashville or in the Valley (Fortitude), there’s always something happening. 

“Country music is going through a boom at the moment, and it is really noticeable in Brisbane.”

Thomson’s has broadcast from country music festivals around the world such as C2C in London and Country Music Week in Canada. 

This of course includes CMA Fest which this year drew 95,000 fans and executives from 46 countries over four days in June.

But when he’s not travelling to Nashville on work, his passion for country music also sees him visit there during his holidays.

“At the end of the day, I’m a country music fan first and foremost, from a very young age. I used to sing and play it back in the day. 

“Fortunately I’ve been able to work full time in country music and radio – my two greatest loves. 

“I love being in Brisbane, and when I go to Nashville it’s like my second home. They’re similar in so many ways.”

Big Loud Records, which was founded on Nashville’s 16th Ave S in 2015, had by two years ago racked up over 65 billion global streams and 30 U.S. country airplay No. 1 hits.

This was due to a roster including Morgan Wallen, Miranda Lambert, HARDY, Ashley Cooke, Lauren Alaina, Thelma & James and The 502’s.

In 2023 when it launched into Australia, Brisbane was its headquarters.

It head-hunted Johnno Keetels, who’d been with Universal Music Group for ten years, as its Label Manager.

While looking for Australian artists to join the US roster, Keetels has been holding launch parties for its acts in various cities. 

In September it is holding the first Big Loud SongHubs with APRA AMCOS and coordinated by Brisbane songwriter and QLD University of Technology academic Gavin Carfoot.

Four Big Loud songwriters will fly out to work with 15 local writers. BIGLOUD club nights are in the pipeline including during the Tamworth Country Music Festival.

Keetels said of the Brisbane/Nashville comparison, “It’s a tricky conversation to have. American country music is centralised around Nashville. We don’t have that centralisation in Australia at this point of time.

“Artists in country music are spread far and wide. 

“But Brisbane – or at least SE Queensland – is the most likely hub if the industry was to centralise in Australia.

Country music acts who call Brisbane their home include Troy Cassar-Daley, Gem Cassar-Daley, Gavin Carfoot, James Johnston who’s generated 134 million streams, Tyla Rodrigues who in May signed to ABC Music, Toby Tyler & The Country Boys, and Will Day.

Regular visitors from the Gold Coast and nearby are Lee Kernaghan, Casey Barnes, Amy Sheppard whose upcoming country album was written with Nashville’s best, and Tori Forsyth who is signed to Island Records.

“It’s brilliant because they write together, play together, and they collaborate a lot,” Keetels enthused.

“You can go to Honky Tonks or Chattahoochee Joes Honky Tonk in the (Fortitude) Valley any Thursday, Friday or Saturday night and see some of the best emerging country artists in Australia.”

Other notables catering for the country set are Johnny Ringo’s and Lefty’s Music Hall.

Of community festivals focussing on country music, the best known is Lasso. 

Launched last year in Logan, in southern Brisbane, by musician and event manager Ashlyn Dinsdale of Goldspur Entertainment, it was an instant sell-out.

This July it drew a crowd of 1,300.

Lasso managed to combine headliners as The Wolfe Brothers and Tori Forsyth with up-and-comers as Mack Geiger, Piper Rodrigues, Ethan Calway, Sarah Catania, Cait Jamieson and Mackenzie May.

Brisbane does not have a major country music festival. But there is a flow-over from other parts of the state.

CMC Rocks in Ipswich (an hour’s drive away, 1 hour 23 minutes from the Gold Coast) remains the festival which has the biggest recognition factor in the northern hemisphere.

Partly it was because Chugg and late co-founder Rob Potts were well known in Nashville, and won many accolades and awards for increasing country music’s profile around the world. 

Chugg has visited Nashville “30 to 40 times.”

It was also because it was instrumental in breaking US stars as Luke Bryan, Luke Combs, Tim McGraw, Lainey Wilson, Faith Hill, Alan Jackson and Morgan Wallen when relative unknowns.

“Luke Combs first played CMC Rocks in 2018. By 2023 he did 10 arena shows and he could have done 20. 

“This year he was the first country artist to sell out stadiums here, selling 490,000 tickets around the country. He’s become a monster superstar in a matter of years.”

In Brisbane, Combs sold out two shows at the 52,500-capacity Suncorp Stadium.

Each year, CMC Rocks attracts large amounts of global country music executives – including artist managers, agents, bookers and festival promoters – who invariably then head to Brisbane as part of business.

“When they think CMC Rocks, they automatically think of Brisbane,” Chugg confirmed.

The festival injects $15 million into the local economy.

Festival data shows that of 24,000 attendees, 9,000 are from intestate and overseas. 

The rest are from Brisbane and country Queensland.

Half come in groups of 4 or more. 34 per cent of the intestate and international crowd members also check out Brisbane and the rest of Queensland. 

There are regular bus shuttles transporting patrons from Brisbane.

“A survey this year found that 67 per cent are return customers. It’s a rite of passage for some. 

“They all come for the music. They’re a terrific crowd. 

“The security guards and the police get bored, because there are no incidents. The more this crowd drink, the friendlier they become!”

The impact of the three-day Groundwater in Broadbeach on the Gold Coast, this October celebrating its 12th year, also spills over into Brisbane. 

Roughly 28 per cent of the 56,000 attendees hail from the Queensland capital.

It injects about $11 million into the Gold Coast economy.

Says Big Loud’s Keetels, “I’m a big fan of Groundwater, it’s very underrated. (Director) Mark Duckworth does a phenomenal job of booking great artists every year. 

“This year they’re bringing Jackson Dean, one of the best country acts on the planet for me.

“It’s free, you roll in and listen to the music by the beach. The stages are beautifully set up and the sound is immaculate.”

There are also new country music festivals with similar flow-on effect to Brisbane.

The Queensland stop for Face To Face/ Live Nation’s three-state Sunburnt Country next February and headlined by Jason Aldean, is Toowoomba two hours west of Brisbane.

Kicks Entertainment/Live Nation’s three-state Strummingbird is on the Sunshine Coast on October 25 as its sole Queensland stop.

In the countdown to the 2032 Olympics/Paralympics and the focus on Brisbane, it will be interesting to see what new entertainment venues will be built to cater for the multi-billion dollar tourism boom and the number of major stadiums that will attract more A1 country stars.

This could definitely establish Brisbane as the new Nashville.