(Return to Country at The DAG Programme)
MONDAY 19th - 11am till 2pm
Kirsty Lee Akers & friends - Tasha Amoroso & Jemma Nicole
Presented by NRMA Business Motoring.
KIRSTY LEE AKERS - Australia's Youngest ever Toyota Starmaker Winner, Telstra's Road to Discovery Winner & Golden Guitar Winner, will be joined by Special Guests TASHA AMOROSO & JEMMA NICOLE
Kirsty Akers was recently described as “one of the rising stars of the Americana scene” by Dallas’ KHYI The Range (America’s highest rating Americana station) but in her native Australia the 24 year old singer-songwriter has been making an impact for the past 8 years.
Influenced equally by contemporary acts such as Mumford & Sons, Brandi Carlile and Needtobreathe as she is by the traditional country sounds of Dolly Parton, Buddy & Julie Miller and Hank Williams that were played around the family home during her formative years Kirsty is a sublime mix of old meets new, youth meets tradition.
Fearless and brutally honest with a penchant for taking her songs to places others fear to tread she has attracted international admirers such as “Mr Americana” Jim Lauderdale and Nanci Griffith while locally she has regularly performed alongside the likes of James Blundell and The McClymonts.
Since the release of her debut single, released independently as a 16 year old, Kirsty has scored nine consecutive radio hits, including five top 10s, in her homeland. Kirsty has been the recipient of numerous awards including the songwriting leg of the Telstra Road To Discovery competition, the acclaimed Toyota Star Maker Award and a CMAA Award for Best New Talent. She has been one of the few Americana styled local acts to receive airplay on independent (read: rock) radio and her second album was nominated by long running pop radio program as one of the year’s most anticipated releases. She has been a finalist in the Best Independent Country Album category at the AIR Awards and twice a finalist for Female Artist of The Year at the CMAA Awards. Her duet with Bob Evans (aka Kev Mitchell of indy faves Jebediah) was heard regularly on Triple J’s popular Roots N All Program and further cemented her position as “one to watch”. 
