Rules and Criteria
Male Balladeer Of The Year Award
To be judged on one song with regard to the artist’s overall performance, quality of lyrics, and production.
Female Balladeer Of The Year Award
To be judged on one song with regard to the artist’s overall performance, quality of lyrics, and production.
Songwriter Balladeer Of The Year Award
Must be Australian story content. Lyrics to be supplied with entry information. All contributing writers must be Australian citizens.
Instrumental Balladeer Of The Year Award
The entrant’s instrumental work must be a prominent part of the recorded track and must musically be recognised as a bush ballad. An entry may be a new composition or a cover version of an existing bush ballad but must be a new recording and released within the eligibility period.
Australian Ballad Of The Year Award
Must be an Australian story. To be judged on artist’s overall performance, quality of lyrics and production. Entries do not fall under the same criteria as the bush ballad musically, however, must have a traditional, Australian feel, ie not country folk, rock or rap etc.
Best New Talent Balladeer/or Encouragement Award
Will be judged on performances during the qualifying period. Attitude and future potential in the industry will also be taken into account.
This award is not by nomination.
Recognition Award For Bush Balladeer Of The Year
The recipient of this award is not determined by nomination but will be selected by a panel of expert judges in the bush ballad field. This award is judged over a two-year period on several fronts and reflects the artist’s overall performance and commitment to the bush ballad genre. It will also take into consideration quality of work, amount of touring and any special events or projects undertaken which support the genre and the industry eg organisation of festivals and concerts that assist all artists and encourages up-and-coming artists.
The Tamworth Bush Ballad Awards
The Tamworth Bush Ballad Awards concert will be held in the Tamworth Town Hall during the Hats Off Festival on 12 July 2025 at 2pm.
CRITERIA AND RULES
A Bush Ballad is a lyrical narrative in song concerned with places, people, events and or attitudes clearly identifiable with Australia. It must be presented in a traditional manner which exhibits an understanding of the genre’s musical and cultural values in the style established by Australia’s pioneer performers. It may combine lyrics previously published as poems or ballads with new music or vice versa, creating a substantially new song. Please ensure you carefully read and understand the criteria above and the following explanation: ‘A bush ballad entry must be clearly related in lyrics, form, content, musical arrangement, instrumentation and presentation to the traditional roots of Australian country music as exemplified by pioneers and other early performers.’ Judged on one entered track. (Courtesy of CMAA)
Entrants must be an Australian citizen.
Material entered must be written by Australian songwriter/s as the bush ballad is our Australian genre.
The entered track must be an original Australian new work, a new recording and commercially released for the first time during the eligibility period. It must not be a cover version or a re-recording of previously recorded material.
Eligibility period of material released is from 1 January 2024 to 30 March 2025.
Awards entry will open 1 February 2025 and close 30 March 2025.
A maximum of one song to be entered per category. A track can be entered in more than one category if applicable.
Late entries will not be accepted.
Finalists will be announced 1 May 2025 via the Hats Off To Country website and social media. Finalists are encouraged to be present at the Tamworth Bush Ballad Awards concert in Tamworth on Saturday 12 July 2025.
Three finalists to be announced in each category.
All entries to be submitted online and to include artist name, contact details, track title, mp3, bio, artist head and shoulders photo, songwriter/s name and lyrics sheet (where required).
All entries to the awards must be of commercial standard.
Any use of A.I. (Artificial Intelligence), in any manner, in the material entered is not allowable.
The winner of each category will receive a specially crafted Tamworth Bush Ballad Awards trophy and runners up will receive a framed certificate.
A number of qualified, specialist judges will be appointed to the judging panel whose decisions will be final and no discussion or correspondence will be entered into the results of the awards. Judging will be strictly confidential. Any entrant in an award category will not be a judge in that category.
Offensive material or language will not be accepted and entries not eligible for an award.
By entering this contest the entrant accepts the rules and conditions of the Tamworth Bush Ballad Awards.
Entry fee of $20 per category.