My Countrytown: Caitlyn Shadbolt – Gympie, QLD

Regional towns are in our blood here at CountryTown! From Ballarat to Toowomba, Bendigo to Tamworth, we love the pubs, the people and the places that make Australia tick. But most of all, we love the amazing country musicians our regional centres produce, like Caitlyn Shadbolt.

Born and raised in Gympie, Queensland, Caitlyn said when she auditioned for The X Factor Australia in 2014, “Gympie is a small country town. A lot of people think, particularly my age, that it’s a little boring but that’s because they’re comparing it to capital cities. For me, I love the town. I think it's cool.” She added, “I’m auditioning today to show people that country music is cool.”

Since Caitlyn placed fifth in the singing competition series, she’s had a number of impressive accolades including a #1 ARIA Country Album, multiple Golden Guitar nominations and a ‘New Oz Artist of the Year’ CMC Music Award.

Her latest single Monsters is the follow up to her single, Lost On Me and also her hit Golden Guitar nominated collaboration with Melanie Dyer, Dumb Decisions. Currently working from her home studio, Caitlyn is finalising her third full length release expected to drop in June.

To get to know Caitlyn Shadbolt a little better, we’ve asked what she loves about Gympie.

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1. It used to be called Nashville

Before Gympie was called Gympie, it was… NASHVILLE. Yep! Cool right?! When people ask me if I’ll ever move to Nashville, I reply saying well... I kinda already do haha. The town is famous for finding gold in the 1800’s and ‘saved QLD from bankruptcy’. The Mary River runs through the town, which is very beautiful, until it floods!

2. The people

The people are wonderful. Often when I go to cities, I forget I’m not at home, so I say g’day to everyone and get odd looks. At home, I often have conversations with strangers in the Woolworths aisle just chatting about life. Haha, it’s great! There is also a wonderful beer economy. I can’t tell you how many times people have helped my partner and I with random jobs and all they’ve asked for is a carton of beer. That’s small towns for ya!

3. Gympie Music Muster

Gympie is home to the Gympie Music Muster! I’ve been attending that festival since I was about 12 years old… The first stage I played on was for the talent quest. A couple years later, I played a small show at the Muster Club and then a couple after that I was on the main stage! That’s a pretty cool feeling :) It’s an amazing festival and I highly recommend anyone go if they haven’t already. Just make sure you bring a BIG jacket, or raincoat… IYKYK.

4. The scenery  

I filmed the official music video for Edge of the Earth in the Gympie region with Fabric Films. We filmed the sunrise at Rainbow Beach on top of the sand blow and it was amazinggg. The 3am start wasn’t exactly my idea of a good time though. Again, if you’re ever in the area – it’s worth the early start to see the sun rise from there!!

5. My family

My family have lived here for generations. There’s a Shadbolt Road named after my great-grandfather. My parents grew up on dairy farms, and their parents grew up on dairy farms, and well, you get the picture. I, however, did not! I grew up on land with every animal, including at one point, like 25 guinea pigs – yeah, that got out of control. But we didn’t have dairy cows! Also, I drink almond milk. The irony. Haha.

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Keep up to date with Caitlyn Shadbolt on her Facebook page here.