James Johnston Tops Golden Guitar Award Nominations!

The full list of nominees for the 51st Golden Guitar Awards were announced virtually today by eight-time Golden Guitar, ARIA and AIR Award winning artist Fanny Lumsden. 

More than 620 entries were received for the 2023 Golden Guitar Awards, which follows a record-breaking year in 2022.

Topping the list and picking up his first ever Golden Guitar Awards nomination is country music young gun, James Johnston, with a total of six nominations, while Adam Brand, Amber Lawrence, and Casey Barnes each picked up five nominations.

In a massive Golden Guitar Awards nominations debut, James Johnston has been nominated for ‘Male Artist of the Year’ and ‘New Talent of the Year’, while his single Small Town has been nominated for ‘Apple Music Single of the Year’, ‘Song of the Year’ and ‘CMT Video of the Year’. He’s also been nominated for ‘Vocal Collaboration of the Year’ with Kaylee Bell for their tack Same Songs.

Adam Brand makes a triumphant return to the Golden Guitar Awards nominees list with the multi-award-winning artist nominated for ‘Male Artist of the Year’. His 2022 album All or Nothing, which is also nominated for a 2022 ARIA Award, is nominated for ‘Toyota Album of the Year’ and ‘Contemporary Country Album of the Year’, while the self-titled track also picked up a nomination for ‘Apple Music Single of the Year’ and ‘Song of the Year’.

Amber Lawrence also picked up five nominations, including ‘Female Artist of the Year’, while her album Living for the Highlights has been nominated for ‘Toyota Album of the Year’ and ‘Contemporary Country Album of the Year’. Her single I’m Coming Home is up for ‘Heritage Song of the Year’ while Let the Girls Sing with Kirsty Lee Akers and Ashleigh Dallas is nominated for ‘Vocal Collaboration of the Year’.

Country rocker Casey Barnes is up for ‘Male Artist of the Year’, while his album Light It Up is nominated for ‘Toyota Album of the Year’ and ‘Contemporary Country Album of the Year’. His single Small Town is up for ‘Song of the Year’, while his song Get to Know Ya is nominated for ‘Apple Music Single of the Year’.

Reigning ‘Female Artist of the Year’ Ashleigh Dallas has picked up four nominations. In addition to her ‘Vocal Collaboration of the Year’ nomination with Kirsty Lee Akers and Amber Lawrence, Dallas is nominated once again for ‘Female Artist of the Year’, while her album In the Moment is nominated for ‘Toyota Album of the Year’ and ‘Traditional Country Album of the Year’.

Brooke McClymont and Adam Eckersley are up for ‘Country Music Capital News Group or Duo of the Year’, while their single Star of the Show is nominated for ‘Song of the Year’ and ‘CMT Video of the Year’. Their song Memory Lane is also up for ‘Apple Music Single of the Year’.

Folk and country artist Angus Gill has picked up four nominations including ‘Bluegrass Recording of the Year’ (Sweet Sister Jasmine), ‘Heritage Song of the Year’ for his song Listen to the Country with Kevin Bennett, ‘Instrumental of the Year’ for his song Dust with Pixie Jenkins, and ‘Bush Ballad of the Year’ for his song Waiting for the Boss featuring Anne Kirkpatrick.

The Weeping Willows are once again up for a Golden Guitar Award with four nominations including ‘Country Music Capital News Group or Duo of the Year’ and ‘Alt Country Album of the Year’ for their album You Reap What you Sow. The Weeping Willows also have two ‘Bluegrass Recording of the Year’ nominations for House of Sin and Lynchburg Until This Song Ends.

Kaylee Bell, Luke O’Shea, Michael Carpenter & The Banks Brothers and Lyn Bowtell all picked up three nominations, while dual nominations went to Lee Kernaghan, Mitch Tambo, Isaiah Firebrace, Morgan Evans, Kristy Cox, Blake Dantier, and Melanie Dyer.

There were 32 artists with single nominations including The Wolfe Brothers, Travis Collins, Allan Caswell, Amy Sheppard, Kirsty Lee Akers, Andrew Swift, Felicity Urquhart & Josh Cunningham, Allison Forbes, Andy Golledge, Andy Penkow, Anne Kirkpatrick, Caitlyn Shadbolt, Cass Hopetoun, Dean Perrett, Dianne Lindsay, Hamish Davidson, Hayley Jensen, Jenny Mitchell, Kevin Bennett, Kim Cheshire, Lachlan Bryan & The Wildes, Lynchburg, 2022 Toyota Star Maker Max Jackson, McAlister Kemp, Mickey Pye, Pete Denahy, Pixie Jenkins, Shane Nicholson, Taylor Moss, TC Cassidy, The Buckleys, and The French Family Band.

Tamworth Regional Council will present the Toyota 51st Golden Guitar Awards live on Saturday, 21 January 2023, from Tamworth Regional Entertainment and Conference Centre and livestreamed via the Festival website.

See the full list of nominees below:

APPLE MUSIC SINGLE OF THE YEAR

• All Or Nothing - Adam Brand
• Memory Lane - Brooke McClymont & Adam Eckersley
• Get To Know Ya - Casey Barnes
• Small Town - James Johnston
• Sing Along Drink Along - Morgan Evans

CMT VIDEO OF THE YEAR

• Star Of The Show - Brooke McClymont & Adam Eckersley – Directed by Brad Murnane
• Small Town - James Johnston – Directed by Elijah Cavanagh
• South East Queensland - Luke O'Shea – Directed by Luke O'Shea and Jay Seeney
• Something Good's Gonna Happen - The Wolfe Brothers featuring Amy Sheppard – Directed by Jay Seeney
• One Of Them Nights - Travis Collins – Directed by Jay Seeney

VOCAL COLLABORATION OF THE YEAR

• James Johnston & Kaylee Bell - Same Songs
• Kirsty Lee Akers, Amber Lawrence and Ashleigh Dallas - Let The Girls Sing
• Lee Kernaghan, Mitch Tambo and Isaiah Firebrace - Come Together
• Lyn Bowtell & Shane Nicholson - Wiser
• Melanie Dyer & Caitlyn Shadbolt - Dumb Decisions

INSTRUMENTAL OF THE YEAR

• Dust - Angus Gill & Pixie Jenkins
• Burning Mountain - Michael Carpenter and The Banks Brothers featuring Hamish Davidson
• Fidget Spinner - Mickey Pye
• Clippety Clop - Pete Denahy
• Soda Cap Boogie - The French Family Band

BLUEGRASS RECORDING OF THE YEAR

• Sweet Sister Jasmine - Angus Gill
• Good Morning Moon - Kristy Cox
• Until This Song Ends - Lynchburg & The Weeping Willows
• Road Man - Michael Carpenter and The Banks Brothers
• House Of Sin - The Weeping Willows

HERITAGE SONG OF THE YEAR

• I'm Coming Home – Written by Amber Lawrence and Katrina Burgoyne – Recorded by Amber Lawrence
• Listen to the Country – Written and Recorded by Angus Gill & Kevin Bennett
• Bogswamp - Written by Josh Cunningham – Recorded by Felicity Urquhart & Josh Cunningham
• Come Together – Written by Lee Kernaghan, Mitch Tambo, Isaiah Firebrace, Nicholas Wolfe, Colin Buchanan and Garth Porter – Recorded by Lee Kernaghan, Mitch Tambo and Isaiah Firebrace
• South East Queensland – Written by Luke O'Shea, Fred Smith and Mitchell Lynham – Recorded by Luke O'Shea

BUSH BALLAD OF THE YEAR

• Sometimes It’s Your Job – Written by Allan Caswell, Manfred Vijars and Lindsay Waddington - Recorded by Allan Caswell
• Ghostly Gums – Written by Kath Stewart, David Carter, Angela Bristow-Baohm and Andy Penkow – Recorded by Andy Penkow
• Waiting for the Boss – Written by Angus Gill, Alan Mackey & Mary O'Brien – Recorded by Angus Gill featuring Anne Kirkpatrick
• Out on Killarney – Written and recorded by Dean Perrett
• Family Tree – Written by Rod McCormack, Dianne Lindsay and Peter Simpson – Recorded by Dianne Lindsay

NEW TALENT OF THE YEAR

• Blake Dantier
• Cass Hopetoun
• James Johnston
• Max Jackson
• Taylor Moss

COUNTRY MUSIC CAPITAL NEWS GROUP OR DUO OF THE YEAR

• Brooke McClymont & Adam Eckersley
• Lachlan Bryan and The Wildes
• McAlister Kemp
• The Buckleys
• The Weeping Willows

MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR

• Adam Brand
• Andrew Swift
• Casey Barnes
• James Johnston
• Morgan Evans

FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR

• Amber Lawrence
• Ashleigh Dallas
• Hayley Jensen
• Lyn Bowtell
• Melanie Dyer

SONG OF THE YEAR

• All Or Nothing – Written by Adam Brand, Nicholas Wolfe and Tom Wolfe – Recorded by Adam Brand
• Star Of The Show – Written by Brooke McClymont, Adam Eckersley and Robby De Sa – Recorded by Brooke McClymont & Adam Eckersley
• Small Town – Written by Casey Barnes, Michael DeLorenzis and Michael Paynter – Recorded by Casey Barnes
• Small Town – Written by James Johnston and Nolan Wynne – Recorded by James Johnston
• South East Queensland – Written by Luke O'Shea, Fred Smith and Mitchell Lynham – Recorded by Luke O’Shea

ALT COUNTRY ALBUM OF THE YEAR

• Dead Men Tell No Tales - Allison Forbes – Produced by Matt Fell
• Strength Of A Queen - Andy Golledge – Produced by John Vella & Ryan Miller
• Tug of War - Jenny Mitchell - Produced by Matt Fell
• Looks Like Heaven - Kim Cheshire – Produced by Rod McCormack
• You Reap What You Sow - The Weeping Willows – Produced by Andrew Wrigglesworth & Laura Coates

CONTEMPORARY COUNTRY ALBUM OF THE YEAR

• All Or Nothing - Adam Brand – Produced by Adam Brand, Vesa Matara, Benjy Pocock and Luke Wooten
• Living For The Highlights - Amber Lawrence - Produced by Stuart Stuart
• Light It Up - Casey Barnes – Produced by Michael DeLorenzis and Michael Paynter
• Silver Linings - Kaylee Bell – Produced by Simon Oscroft, Andy Mak and Joseph Faris
• Wiser - Lyn Bowtell – Produced by Shane Nicholson

TRADITIONAL COUNTRY ALBUM OF THE YEAR

• In The Moment - Ashleigh Dallas – Produced by Brett Dallas
• Dry Season - Blake Dantier – Produced by Simon Johnson
• Shades of Blue - Kristy Cox – Produced by Jerry Salley
• Mr Goodtime - Michael Carpenter and The Banks Brothers – Produced by Michael Carpenter
• Travelling Heart - TC Cassidy – Produced by Angus Gill

TOYOTA ALBUM OF THE YEAR

• All Or Nothing - Adam Brand - Produced by Adam Brand, Vesa Matara, Benjy Pocock and Luke Wooten
• Living For The Highlights - Amber Lawrence – Produced by Stuart Stuart
• In The Moment - Ashleigh Dallas – Produced by Brett Dallas
• Light It Up - Casey Barnes – Produced by Michael DeLorenzis and Michael Paynter
• Silver Linings - Kaylee Bell – Produced by Simon Oscroft, Andy Mak and Joseph Faris