Peter Simpson

PETER SIMPSON is a multi-award-winning bush ballad guitarist, singer and songwriter and to his credit are several Nominations for the Golden Guitar ‘Bush Ballad of the Year Award’ with his own compositions.  He has had much success with his songwriting with a number of artists recording his original songs.  Peter co-produces and co-hosts the very successful and popular ‘Back To The Bush Spectacular’ concert at the Tamworth Country Music Festival each year along with another bush ballad concert at the Gympie Muster each day. He also co-produces and co-hosts a national, weekly, long-running radio program the Australian Bush Ballad Show.  Peter is a C.M.A.A. Board Member and was inducted to the Tamworth ‘Country Music Hands of Fame’ in 2018.

PADRE JIM NEWTON  was raised around the Moonbi area of NSW where Jim developed a love of country music, especially bush ballads and learned to play guitar.

Jim, his wife Heather and their two children moved across the continent and lived on an Aboriginal mission nine miles north of Norseman, WA.  Returning to NSW he studied Theological training and became a pastor in outback NSW for several years.  Eventually the Ministry led him to uniform where he became a Chaplain for the Australian Army Defence Force, serving both part-time and full- time for eighteen years, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Retiring in 2012 he moved to Tamworth and became involved in Chaplaincy with the State Emergency Service, NSW.