The 2023 edition of the Toyota Golden Guitar Awards was held last Saturday (January 21), with the biggest winners including Casey Barnes, Andrew Swift and Amber Lawrence.
Barnes took home the trophy for Album Of The Year at the hand of his seventh album, ‘Light It Up’ – which arrived last February via Chugg Music – while Swift and Lawrence scored the gongs for Male and Female Artists Of The Year, respectively.
Meanwhile, the award for Group Or Duo Of The Year went to Brooke McClymont and Adam Eckersley, and the latest New Talent Of The Year was named James Johnston. McClymont and Eckersley also won the awards for Song Of The Year (earning the title with their cut ‘Star Of The Show’) and Single Of The Year (with ‘Memory Lane’).
Other song-specific awards were honoured to Dean Perrett (who won Bush Ballad Of The Year for ‘Out On Killarney’), Luke O’Shea (Heritage Song Of The Year and Video Of The Year, both for ‘South East Queensland’), Kristy Cox (Bluegrass Recording Of The Year for ‘Good Morning Moon’) and The French Family Band (Instrumental Of The Year for ‘Soda Cap Boogie’).
‘Same Songs’ also earned James Johnston and Kaylee Bell the award for Vocal Collaboration Of The Year.
As for the more genre-focussed Album Of The Year awards, Ashleigh Dallas’ ‘In The Moment’ was dubbed last year’s best Traditional Country album, while Kim Cheshire won in the Alt Country category (with ‘Looks Like Heaven’), and Lyn Bowtell won for Contemporary Country (with ‘Wiser’).
The full list of winners at the 2023 Golden Guitar Awards is:
TOYOTA ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Adam Brand – ‘All Or Nothing’
Amber Lawrence – ‘Living For The Highlights’
Ashleigh Dallas – ‘In The Moment’
WINNER: Casey Barnes – ‘Light It Up’
Kaylee Bell – ‘Silver Linings’
SONG OF THE YEAR
Adam Brand – ‘All Or Nothing’
WINNER: Brooke McClymont and Adam Eckersley – ‘Star Of The Show’
Casey Barnes – ‘Small Town’
James Johnston – ‘Small Town’
Luke O’Shea – ‘South East Queensland’
MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Adam Brand
WINNER: Andrew Swift
Casey Barnes
James Johnston
Morgan Evans
FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
WINNER: Amber Lawrence
Ashleigh Dallas
Hayley Jensen
Lyn Bowtell
Melanie Dyer
GROUP OR DUO OF THE YEAR
WINNER: Brooke McClymont and Adam Eckersley
Lachlan Bryant and The Wildes
McAlister Kemp
The Buckleys
The Weeping Willows
NEW TALENT OF THE YEAR
Blake Dantier
Cass Hopetoun
WINNER: James Johnston
Max Jackson
Taylor Moss
TRADITIONAL COUNTRY ALBUM OF THE YEAR
WINNER: Ashleigh Dallas – ‘In The Moment’
Blake Dantier – ‘Dry Season’
Kristy Cox – ‘Shades Of Blue’
Michael Carpenter and The Banks Brothers – ‘Mr Goodtime’
TC Cassidy – ‘Travelling Heart’
BUSH BALLAD OF THE YEAR
Allan Caswell – ‘Sometimes It’s Your Job’
Andy Penkow – ‘Ghostly Gums’
Angus Gill – ‘Waiting For The Boss’ (featuring Anne Kirkpatrick)’
WINNER: Dean Perrett – ‘Out On Killarney’
Dianne Lindsay – ‘Family Tree’
HERITAGE SONG OF THE YEAR
Amber Lawrence – ‘I’m Coming Home’
Angus Gill and Kevin Bennett – ‘Listen To The Country’
Felicity Urquhart and Josh Cunningham – ‘Bogswamp’
Lee Kernaghan, Mitch Tambo and Isiah Firebrace – ‘Come Together’
WINNER: Luke O’Shea – ‘South East Queensland’
ALT COUNTRY ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Allison Forbes – ‘Dead Men Tell No Tales’
Andy Golledge – ‘Strength Of A Queen’
Jenny Mitchell – ‘Tug Of War’
WINNER: Kim Cheshire – ‘Looks Like Heaven’
The Weeping Willows – ‘You Reap What You Sow’
BLUEGRASS RECORDING OF THE YEAR
Angus Gill – ‘Sweet Sister Jasmine’
WINNER: Kristy Cox – ‘Good Morning Moon’
Lynchburg and The Weeping Willows – ‘Until This Song Ends’
Michael Carpenter and The Banks Brothers – ‘Road Man’
The Weeping Willows – ‘House Of Sin’
INSTRUMENTAL OF THE YEAR
Angus Gill and Pixie Jenkins – ‘Dust’
Michael Carpenter and The Banks Brothers – ‘Burning Mountain’ (featuring Hamish Davidson)
Mickey Pye – ‘Fidget Spinner’
Pete Denahy – ‘Clippety Clop’
WINNER: The French Family Band – ‘Soda Cap Boogie’
CONTEMPORARY COUNTRY ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Adam Brand – ‘All Or Nothing’
Amber Lawrence – ‘Living For The Highlights’
Casey Barnes – ‘Light It Up’
Kaylee Bell – ‘Silver Linings’
WINNER: Lyn Bowtell – ‘Wiser’
CMT VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Brooke McClymont and Adam Eckersley – ‘Star Of The Show’
James Johnston – ‘Small Town’
WINNER: Luke O’Shea – ‘South East Queensland’
The Wolfe Brothers – ‘Something Good’s Gonna Happen’ (featuring Amy Sheppard)
Travis Collins – ‘One Of Them Nights’
VOCAL COLLABORATION OF THE YEAR
WINNER: James Johnston and Kaylee Bell – ‘Same Songs’
Kirsty Lee Akers, Amber Lawrence and Ashleigh Dallas – ‘Let The Girls Sing’
Lee Kernaghan, Mitch Tambo and Isaiah Firebrace – ‘Come Together’
Lyn Bowtell and Shane Nicholson – ‘Wiser’
Melanie Dyer and Caitlyn Shadbolt – ‘Dumb Decisions’
APPLE MUSIC SINGLE OF THE YEAR
Adam Brand – ‘All Or Nothing’
WINNER: Brooke McClymont and Adam Eckersley – ‘Memory Lane’
Casey Barnes – ‘Get To Know Ya’
James Johnston – ‘Small Town’
Morgan Evans – ‘Sing Along Drink Along’