Max Jackson's My Countrytown: Coonamble

Groundwater Country Music Festival returns to the Gold Coast this Friday (18 October) and wraps up on Sunday (20 October).

To celebrate this year’s event, Countrytown caught up with one of the festival's most hyped acts, Max Jackson, to learn more about what makes her her. Max Jackson has introduced us to her very own country town, Coonamble, New South Wales.

Jackson’s My Countrytown feature comes after she released her most recent single, Who You Did It With, which followed her track Fixin’ Things, which we premiered earlier this year.

Jackson ended 2023 with the release of her single Little More Country, which was played on Garth Brooks’ radio station, The Big 615. You can watch her reaction to that moment here.

In 2023, Jackson also signed with ABC Music and teamed up with Stephen White Management. 

This year’s Groundwater CMF features three days of live music from some of the finest, most exciting international and homegrown country music stars, including Max Jackson, Adam Brand, Tim Hicks, Kasey Chambers, Melanie Dyer, Josh Setterfield, and many more. The festival offers family fun and exciting music by the beach – for free – all day and night. You can learn more about the event here.

Here’s what Max Jackson has to say about her country town:

Max Jackson: My Countrytown - Coonamble, NSW

I’m really proud to have grown up in Coonamble. It made me who I am today. That’s where my love of country music came from. My parents are big fans of country music and raised me and my sister that way too.

They would take us to shows when big country stars added our little town to their tours. When I was young, I saw people like Gina Jeffreys, Beccy Cole, Adam Harvey, and Troy Cassar-Daley. Growing up out there also inspired my love of storytelling. Everyone has a good story to tell out there, and I always loved listening as a kid.

I now live in the Hunter Valley and miss home a lot, but I feel lucky to get out there as much as possible to see family and occasionally play a show, too!

The People

I feel so lucky to have been raised in a town with a real sense of community, where people are down to earth, real, honest, and just good people. I think there is no place like a country town when it comes to everything, from the good times like celebrations to the hard times when everyone comes together to get through it—it’s the people and community spirit that make everything better.

When I was little, I had so much freedom because everyone knew everyone. My mum often tells stories of giving us some money to go and get lollies at the corner shop. She would just stand out the front and watch us go off down the road, knowing we were safe and who would meet us on the other end. That kind of freedom also gave us confidence and saw us grow up able to have conversations and speak for ourselves. I have so much to owe to the people of Coonamble.

The Nicknames

Bit of fun fact trivia! Coonamble has a ‘Nickname Hall Of Fame,’ and there are billboards of local legends scattered around the main street sharing a caricature of each person, their nickname and a short little story of how they got their nicknames and a little personality profile.

I really love how unique this is to the town. There was even a big story done on Weekend Sunrise. There’s some pretty funny stories that go along with them and the video can be found online, definitely worth checking out to see some local legends, hear the stories and even see some of the town for yourself.

The Sunsets

There is nothing like a sunset out in Coonamble, where the land is so flat. Particularly out on the edge of town, as far as the eye can see, you can get uninterrupted views of the brightest burnt orange and gold as the sun sinks below the horizon - it’s really stunning.

I think the thing that makes it extra special too is that you can be out there and hear nothing but silence and a few birds flying over and a few talkative cows in the paddock. We actually captured one of the most beautiful Coonamble sunsets in the ‘Who You Did It With’ Visualiser.

I feel like it’s really special to be able to share how beautiful it really is with my audience, particularly alongside such a special song.

My Grandparent’s Houses

One of my favourite things about growing up in Coonamble was the time spent at both of my grandparent’s houses. My Grandma and Pop had a little bit of land right as you drive into town that backed onto the Castlereagh River. They had a couple of horses and a veggie garden that we spent lots of time in. My favourite part about the garden was the mulberry trees.

My Grandma kept old shirts for us in the cupboard that we would put on before going down and eating as many mulberries (while getting them all over us) as we possibly could. For most of the year, the river in Coonamble is dry, so we would spend lots of time making bike jumps on the riverbank and fishing when the rain came. My nan’s house was in town, and she had the most beautiful garden that you’ve ever seen.

She always kept her house really beautiful. We grandkids have always loved the smell of Nan's cakes/slices and different dishes cooking on the stove. She’s very famous around town for her Ginger Fluff sponge cake, and she would always have that made for us, complete with whipped cream, banana, passionfruit, and strawberries.

The peace, quiet and grounding

I always love getting back home to see my family, and whenever I can be there, I just feel like I get that grounded feeling that I’ve needed. Coming back to the place that I’m from, being around good people, the slow pace of life and not having so many things going on is just the best feeling.

I feel really grateful to know that everyone is behind me, cheering me on, and they just treat me like the same kid they’ve known forever. I’m actually just about to go out and play a community festival in town with Lee Kernaghan and The Wolfe Brothers - it’s so crazy to think that I now call people I looked up to SO much as a fan of country music growing up, my friends! I can’t wait to show them around.

You can catch Max Jackson at this year’s Groundwater CMF.