Our own country music star Tom Curtain is taking his soon-to-be released anthems of hope on a tour of Australia, but he wants Katherine to hear them first.
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"I wanted to give Katherine the first crack at listening," Tom Curtain said.
His album releases in the past have been a handful of songs played at the Visitor Information Centre, but next Thursday nothing will be left out.
"It is an hour of singing and an hour of the horses and dogs, it is the show Australia has seen, but Katherine always misses out on."
Off the back of his latest success We're Still Here, a salute to rural Australia's drought-stricken farmers, Curtain will be taking his fourth album, due to be released on November 15, through towns and cities across Australia.
He'll be playing a mix of crowd favourites and songs never heard before, while he spreads anti-bullying messages - made famous by Speak Up, his tribute to Katherine girl Amy 'Dolly' Everett who took her life at the beginning of 2018 - and celebrates the strength of rural communities in his latest song.
"I am hoping we can spread the message that we are raising awareness of the drought many people are still battling," he said.
It is about letting people know they are not alone.
- Tom Curtain
He said he hopes his show provides a place of connection in both the big cities and outback towns in a time of hardship felt across Australia.
"Mental headspace is stretched right now in a lot of places, so we try to get to a lot of isolated towns feeling the worst of it.
"But it is just as important to spread that message in Brisbane and Melbourne to make sure people are calling their mates or even heading out to these small towns to spend a bit of money because it really is rough."
A new collaboration with Sara Storer and musician and 2008 Australian of the Year Lee Kernaghan is one to listen out for, Curtain said.
"It is called She Gave us the Song, and it is about Australian singer-songwriter Joy McKean who was a tremendous lady of song and country music.
"It highlights her song writing just before her 90th birthday."
While Australia will be excited to hear a series of songs from the new album, it is the crowd favourite We're Still Here they'll be coming for.
He penned the beginnings when touring through drought-stricken Queensland on his Speak Up tour at the end of 2018, beginning of 2019.
"From travelling through drought stricken Queensland on my last tour and driving back and seeing it all rejuvenated, but so many dead cows on the side of the road, was terrible - I was gutted," Curtain said.
"I just wanted to write a song to let [farmers] know that we are standing by them.
"I was very passionate about it and felt I had to get the message out there - these farmers and communities are facing all these hardships including droughts, floods and fires, and it is so soul destroying, but they are supporting each other and bouncing back, one foot in front of the other."
Tom Curtain will be kicking of his Australian tour in Katherine on Thursday, November 14 from 6pm to 8pm.
Tickets have been reduced to $25 and can be bought on the website here.
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