General News
21 March, 2025
Adam Brand, Casey Barnes ready to headline RegFest
Adam Brand is one of Australia's most successful country recording artists and he's headlining Horsham's RegFest this weekend.
He's promised a mix of old and new and some that will surely get you on your feet.
"I don't tour as much as I used to since I had a family so this is exciting and we can't wait to get on that stage and see everyone from Horsham," he said.
"The Horsham crowds have always been fantastic and I'm looking forward to performing for them again."
Brand said he's recorded and performed his share of fun songs during his almost three-decade career, including some that mean a lot to his audience.
"I know I've performed something that has impacted that person," he said.
Award-winning songs like Dirt Track Cowboys which has become the theme song for many speedways and race meets; the Anzac which is regularly played at events nationwide and also won the Heritage Song of the Year Award.
"These are all great songs and you can be sure we'll be doing these on Saturday night in Horsham," he said.
Although Adam Brand's long and successful career may seem like he's always been around, success did not happen overnight, although he made his first public appearance when he was three.
"I sang 'How Much is that Doggie in the Window' with my dad in a pub," he said.
"Music was always something I wanted to do."
It wasn't until he performed his first album at Tamworth that it all happened for him he says.
Since then his albums have gone Platinum, and he has won numerous Golden Guitar, CMAA, Arias, and Mo Awards.
"This didn't happen overnight for me but that's okay because I believe in timing," he said.
"By the time I had some success I had lived life and that helped me deal with life in the public eye and that's important too."
Brand is one of the many performers booked at Saturday's RegFest, alongside Casey Barnes, the Sunny Cowgirls and Amber Lawrence.
Barnes, a singer with a touch of rock, has country music in his veins.
"There was always music in my home and instruments around the house, so it was inevitable that I would enjoy music, but it wasn't until 2005 that my career took off," he said.
"I'll always be grateful for the people I met along the way because they were the music icons I had always looked up to."
Barnes said he is excited to come to Horsham for RegFest because it is his first visit, and he can't wait.
"We're performing on the local footy oval so I hope to kick the footy around a bit when we get there because we're all football-mad, so that's a bonus for us," he said.
He said that performing country music was always the dream, but it has not been without its challenges.
"Until about five or 10 years ago, it was hard to get country music played on commercial radio in Australia, but that has changed," he said.
"Country music has become more popular and we are seeing a new generation in the audience coming through."
Barnes believes country music has improved, which has helped its popularity, due in part to Australian artists like Keith Urban, who have been so successful in that space.
Audiences are always changing, Barnes said.
"Several of my songs have a line dancing following, especially 'Gone, Gone, Gone'," he said.
"The line dancers have gone mad for it."
