Australian Country Music legend Troy Cassar-Daley was no different.

The breath-taking view and Dreamtime story behind the formation of the three brother mountains of the Camden Haven may well inspire a new song, he said.

Country music is about storytelling and Troy draws on very Australian experiences to paint lyrical pictures.

“Country music has always been about the story. It’s never really been about how flash the licks are that your sing, it’s always been a poetic style of music,” Troy said.

“If I go ahead and continue to write poems into songs, then hopefully I can include a lot of that Australian-ness in there. 

“We’ve got a wonderful lot of characters living amongst us. We’ve got a lot of really interesting stories. 

“I mean the story about the three brothers here fascinates me. I reckon there’s a song in that, if there’s not then I should give the game away. 

“I want to read about that story. I get hungry for knowledge. That will be my next thing; probably on the way home in the plane today I’ll be sitting there thinking about the three brothers and what they went through, the story behind it all. I think that makes you want to include things that are Australian in your tunes because we’ve got a special place to talk about.”

Troy said he has fond memories of surfing and fishing in the Camden Haven but had never been to the top of North Brother until Wednesday morning.

“I’ll be bringing the band up here next week for a look. I’m not going to miss this again,” Troy said.

Troy earned his 35^th Golden Guitar Award at the 2017 Tamworth Country Music Festival.

“It was a surprise actually, I had pinned a couple of other people to win it, because I loved a couple of other records in the finalist category. Sara Storer I thought had a real big chance because I loved her record Silos. So I’m sitting there expecting to lose, to tell you the truth, and they read my name out and it was a lovely, wonderful surprise. 

“Being inducted onto the Roll of Renown this year as the 50^th person and the youngest person, that was very strange. I don’t know how my manager kept that secret from me. The Roll of renown is a huge piece of granite at Tamworth and it’s got all these amazing plaques on it of pioneers who have really cut the path for people like myself.

“I remember pulling up at the Roll of Renown as a 12-year-old taking photos, standing next to it because it had all our heroes on it. 

“This year I was able to be indicted onto the same rock and that’s pretty special. I think it’s one of the highlights of my whole career.”

The upcoming gig in Laurieton on February 18 draws on stories from the book Troy released last year called Things I Carry Around. 

“There are a lot of localised stories, we got up to a lot of mischief on the North Coast. And there were a few sad times too. The album I put out is a musical version of the book.”

The show will begin with a sunrise image taken at Mulloway, follow Troy’s life story and finish with a sunset image of a windmill taken at Tamworth.

“I think there’s no better way to close the show than a beautiful western sunset which gets more red than you can possibly imagine.

“Between the sunrise and the sunset there will be a lot of stories and a lot of songs; a few new ones and a lot of old ones.

“That will hopefully take people on a bit of a journey with me through the book but hopefully also see a little bit of themselves and their own lives growing up on the North and Mid North Coast.”

Tickets are on sale at the Laurieton United Services Club for Troy Cassar-Daley, appearing on February 18. Pre-sale price is $35, at the door $39, under 18 is $20. Doors open 7.30pm.

Tickets are also selling for the VIP Soundcheck experience. Arriving at 5pm, you will be a part of the behind the scenes as the crew prepare the audio and lighting. Troy will play a few songs and then come down to the group for a photo and to say hi. You are welcome to take your own photos during soundcheck.

In the meantime, watch the Courier’s interview with Troy and listen to the beautiful song he sings atop North Brother: