Golden nod for bluegrass duo

THE music of a local singer, mandolin and fiddle player sounds like success.

Ballarat’s Lachie Davidson, of bluegrass act Davidson Brothers, is celebrating a Golden Guitar Award nomination for the band, ahead of the 2024 Tamworth Country Music Festival.

Big Ole Feelings, a song recorded with Gareth Leach, is contesting Bluegrass Recording of the Year.

“Gareth wrote the song,” Davidson said. “It’s a bluegrass-influenced country song, which he wrote about his son.

“My brother has been playing a few shows with him. When he was recording it, he asked us if we’d be interested to work on the song together with him.

“We recorded at his place, came up with parts that worked together, and did a music video.”

Davidson performs alongside his Bendigo-based brother Hamish, a fiddle, banjo, and dobro-player, and together they’ve won five Golden Guitars throughout their decades-long career.

The band, which includes other guitar and bass players, perform high energy original acoustic songs and covers, with a string-instrument focus.

“Being nominated is always a thrill for us,” Davidson said. “We first went to Tamworth in ’98 and had our first nomination in 2004 with our first album.

“It’s been nearly 20 years since we were first nominated, which is pretty crazy, and it’s actually Gareth’s first nomination, so he’s over the moon.

“It’s a great feeling being up in Tamworth and being amongst peers in this genre of music.

“There’s a long history at the awards night, and you see a lot of young faces from all over the country as well.”