Remember the name. The self-taught, 16-year-old country-pop talent hails from a small coal-mining town in Central Queensland, where she developed a love for live music and entertaining people from an early age at her family’s hotel pub. Flash forward to 2021, and Bella is set to bring her incredible musical ability and showmanship to Broadbeach to perform a 45-minute set in front of thousands of fans at this year’s Groundwater CMF! A far cry from the modest rural hotel she grew up in. You can check out her amazing entry video here.
This incredible opportunity arose thanks to Groundwater’s inaugural KIX-Start competition, a collaboration between Groundwater CMF and KIX Country Radio Network designed to discover budding country music stars and to help KIX-Start their career. Needless to say, the competition has certainly achieved this, bringing together an exciting variety of country talent.
Gina Jeffreys, country music icon and competition judge, was in awe of the young talent on display in the competition.
“I was so honoured to have been asked to be a guest judge for this wonderful initiative KIX-Start. For me, it’s an absolute passion to encourage and nurture the next generation of country stars and I get so excited when I see a new artist come along who ticks all the boxes to make it in the industry. We had a huge range of artists enter and I’m proud to say that it was the young females who dominated the auditions. The level of talent was just incredible, and it makes me so excited for the future of country music in Australia,” she declared.
Indeed, the strong female presence extends to Groundwater’s festival line-up, with an incredible 22 female artists set to showcase their talent. It is almost unheard of for an Australian music festival to have 47% of its performers be women, with 2017/18 festivals across the nation averaging just 23%.
Ultimately, despite some exceptional competition, there could only be one KIX-
Start winner, and Bella Mackenzie’s mesmerising blend of vocal virtuosity, performing flair, songwriting ability, and distinct self-taught guitar style and technique wowed the judges and assured Bella the opening spot at The Back Road Theatre stage, whetting the country music appetite for festival-goers before the likes of Troy Cassar-Daley, Sara Storer and Graeme Connors.
The Prize Package
Ø Performing a 45-minute opening set at The Back Road Theatre at Groundwater 2021
Ø A fully produced single by multi-award-winning producer Rod McCormack (Produced Paul Kelly/Troy Cassar Daley, Jimmy Barnes, Kasey Chambers, etc), mixed and mastered at his Music Cellar Studios where most of Australia’s music royalty have recorded, ready for release!
Ø Frank Varrasso from Varrasso PR will provide radio promotion for the single. Frank and his team at Varrasso PR are leaders in radio promotion in Australia and have promoted the likes of The Wolfe Brothers, Casey Barnes, Eskimo Joe, and Kimbra
Ø A mentoring session with multi-award-winning country legend Gina Jeffreys
Mackay's Bella Mackenzie cannot wait to bring her infectious charm, exceptional talent, and youthful exuberance to Groundwater 2021.
“Performing at Groundwater, on the same line-up as the Aussie artists that I have looked up to and listened to over the years is simply a dream come true!” Bella explained.
“I just can't express how excited I am to be performing at Groundwater and how much it means to me. It is such an iconic Queensland event and as a proud Queenslander, I am so excited to be heading to the Gold Coast to play some country music.”
“I would like to say a thank you to the judges... picking just one winner out of the amazing top ten finalists would have been a crazy hard task, every entrant was so worthy! But mostly I would like to thank KIX and Groundwater CMF for running the KIX-Start competition and for giving us emerging country music artists something positive to look forward to,” Bella said.
Make sure you head to Groundwater CMF 12-14 November to catch Bella Mackenzie’s sensational performance and get a taste of the future of country music in Australia.
ABOUT GROUNDWATER
- In 2019, 73,000 people attended the 3- day event, that’s up 15% from the previous year.
- The event injected in approximately $8.46 million into the local economy in 2019, an increase of 26% on 2018. 93% of the economic impact was felt in the Gold Coast region and 7% in other parts of Queensland.
- Groundwater attracts a wide variety of demographics, from families attending during the day with little ones (often their first live music experience), to groups of friends who make it their annual holiday.
ABOUT KIX COUNTRY
- KIX Country is a radio network broadcasting in various towns across Australia with over 50 radio stations across the nation.
- KIX Country is part of Grant Broadcasters.
- Its target demographic is all people who love country music.
Groundwater Country Music Festival is supported by the Queensland Government via Tourism and Events Queensland and is a feature on the It’s Live! in Queensland events calendar.
Important links and assets
Website Facebook Media Kit Spotify Playlist
Social Media Handles
Facebook: @GroundwaterCMF
Instagram: @GroundwaterCMF
Twitter: @GroundwaterCMF
Hashtags #groundwatercmf #thisisqueensland #visitgoldcoast #ourgoldcoast #WeAreGoldCoast
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