Introduction

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Introduction

By Max Ellis, creator and manager
of this website (pictured [left] with
"Mr Hoedown" John Minson).

I was born the year Tex Morton first recorded real country music in Australia so my life up to this point has run parallel to the life of Australian country music.

Mind you, I didn't really get involved until the '60s by which time country and western had enjoyed its first bloom and was battling the obscurity forced on to it when rock and roll conquered the world of music. In the years that followed, I was privileged to become friends with virtually all the wonderful people who had created this great Australian art form... among them, Tex himself, Buddy, Smoky, Shirley, Slim and Joy and dozens of other talented singers and songwriters who had a hand in shaping the music we today call Australian country.

For almost 40 years from Tamworth, I played a central role in marketing and promoting Australian country music. For the first 20 years it was as an employee of Radio 2TM in Tamworth, then with Max Ellis Marketing and from 1992 to 2002 with the Country Music Association of Australia. These days I'm on my own again.

In 2000, I was responsible for creating the "Walk A Country Mile" Interpretive Centre in Tamworth which tells the story of Australian Country Music, and this made me aware of how much information about the early days still exists.

I'm starting this website because I believe it is essential to preserve the history of our music before it fades away. There are already many fine books, videos, publications, organisations, and displays concerned with the history of Australian country music.

My objective is not to replace any of these excellent resources. Rather, I want to identify and consolidate our various historical sources and references into one coherent bank of knowledge that is easily accessible to every one.

Not only that, but I would like to see this site work as a means of gathering historical information from every corner of our nation. This will be an interactive site with contributors using it to file irreplaceable knowledge in a safe and public place. It may be personal memories, documents, pictures, articles or anything that contributes to the story of Australian Country Music. So the site will be added to on a regular basis.

I intend working closely with industry bodies like the Australian Country Music Foundation (ACMF) which has been established as a national archive for country music in Australia.

It is my hope that in years to come, artists, musicians, songwriters, industry people, students and Australians generally will be able to find information and insights into the fascinating story of Australian Country Music.

Compiled and produced in Tamworth, Australia's Country Music Capital © Copyright GM Ellis. Material on this site can be downloaded. Where copyrights on pictures or other content are known to exist, approvals for use have been obtained. If you have any query regarding material on the site please contact the site manager