CMAA Academy of Country Music
for Junior & Senior Singers, Songwriters, Instrumentalists, Performers
21/08/2026
A hearty congratulations to our alumni, Felicity Dowd Music, on being selected as an artist for next year’s Folk Alliance International showcase in Chicago! Felicity will also be representing us in the states next month when she attends Americana Music Association as our Sister Cities of Nashville exchange student. Well done Felicity! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
(Also great to see another alumni, Imogen Clark, on this international lineup too)
Meet another one of our artists who is stepping up next month to take part in The Academy On The Road, Arabella Starling. And you can step up too, just by buying a ticket and coming along to support! Sunday 6 September from 1pm - 3pm at the Branxton Community Hall.
🎫 https://events.humanitix.com/the-academy-on-the-road-branxton-2026
19/08/2026
Congratulations to the winners of the recent Ekka Country Music Showdown! Junior winner, Molly Harrison - Music from NZ, who is already a Junior Academy graduate, has earned herself a full scholarship to return to The Academy in 2027 🏆 See you soon Molly!
A HUGE CONGRATS to our Country Music Showdown winners! 🤠🎶💚
These rising stars brought the talent and had the crowd cheering!
🏆 Open: Jessica Holbrok
🏆 Junior: Molly Harrison
We can’t wait to see where your music takes you! ✨
The weeks have been flying by since we wrapped up the 2026 Junior Academy and we still have so much to share from that time! So enjoy this incredible highlight reel from the Graduation Concert, filmed and edited by Roaming Creatives, featuring one of our group songs, High Country, by Lee Kernaghan.
Thanks for the shoutout Zach!
Tickets are on sale now for The Academy On The Road show at Branxton Community Hall in the Hunter Valley region. Sunday 6 September from 1pm to 3pm, a perfect way to spend Father’s Day! We hope to see you there.
🎫 https://events.humanitix.com/the-academy-on-the-road-branxton-2026
zacharyrw.music CMAA Academy Of Country Music I’m so excited to be playing at the CMAA Academy on the road On the 6th of September!!!🎸🎸🎸
We’ll take the free promo, thanks Wade Forster! ❤️
07/08/2026
We are very excited to announce our first ever ACADEMY ON THE ROAD!
Featuring 4 of our recent graduates, Arabella Starling, Lucy Watson Music, Peyton Childs Music and ZacharyRWMusic, plus special guest appearances from Lyn Bowtell and Roger Corbett (of The Bushwackers), backed by The Academy Band of Josh Beveridge, Rory Phillips and William Louis, this is going to be one lovely afternoon of music and community at the Branxton Community Hall!
🗓️ SUNDAY 6 SEPTEMBER (Father's Day) 1:00pm - 3:00pm
Tickets are on sale now: https://events.humanitix.com/the-academy-on-the-road-branxton-2026
FREE tickets available for Academy Graduates. Get in touch and we'll send you the access code 🔓
This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through Music Australia.
Artwork: Creative Queen Bees
07/08/2026
What a fun night we had last night at our August Open Mic at QIRKZ 🎤 Thanks to everyone who turned up to support and/or perform, and to Yaron and his team for having us. It’s been lovely building our little music community here in the Hunter Valley.
Pictured:
1. MAVERICK LESLIE-FITCH
2. Lucy Watson
3. John Parker
4. Josh Beveridge & Lucy Beveridge
5. Marli Grainger
03/08/2026
🔥 THE CAMPFIRE 🔥
It's August, which means it's Muster Month! We are getting very excited about our new collaborative project with the Gympie Music Muster, which will see these 15 Academy graduates add "Muster Artist" to their bios, at the end of a four day program spent songwriting, workshopping and camping in the beautiful Amamoor Forest 🏕️ These spots were hotly contested and with a couple of changes since our first announcement, we are thrilled to re-announce our artists:
Amberley Maryellen
Caitlin Drew - Music
Charli Jade Music
Coral Renee
Crystal Robins
Goldie Cosgrove
Jo Page
Kane Vincent
Lucy Watson Music
Olive Mae Williams
Sam Snape
Sari Abbott
Tahla Ward Music
Zac Weeks Music
Zara Lindeman Music
The Campfire Showcase will take place on the Macca's Kickstart Stage on Thursday 27 August from 3:00pm to 5:00pm.