Clancy’s star is on the rise

Despite two difficult years of lockdowns, cancelled gigs, venue restriction and more, local country music sensation, Clancy Pye has emerged more disciplined, determined, and ready to take her music career to the next level.

When the postponed Tamworth Country Music Festival finally gets underway in April, 29-year-old Clancy will take to the stage with nine other talented emerging artists all vying for one of the biggest prizes in Australian country music.

For more than 40 years, the prestigious Toyota Star Maker talent quest has been changing the lives of young musicians. It has launched the careers of Country superstars such as Lee Kernagan, Keith Urban, Beccy Cole, and has made household names of many others.

Born into a musical family, Clancy first picked-up a guitar when she was just six and has been performing and writing music ever since. Her brother, Mickey Pye, won the Toyota Star Maker competition in 2015, and Clancy will be hoping to follow in his footsteps at the rescheduled Grand Final night on Tuesday, April 19.

“I thought I'd throw my hat in the ring again,” said Clancy, who was also one of the 10 finalists in the 2020 Star Maker competition.

“It is just a real shame that, unfortunately, they had to postpone the Tamworth Country Music Festival a week out from when it was to go ahead… I definitely feel for the organisers having to reschedule everything but, at least it is postponed and not cancelled, so I'm looking forward to April now.”

Even with all that has (and has not) happened to the live music scene over the past two years, Clancy has been far from idle. During 2020, she released her debut self-titled EP along with two singles and accompanying music videos.

She has also been pushing herself as a musician and songwriter by taking up a self-imposed challenge to write a new song every single week.

“Since January 2020, I've written about 120 songs actually, so while it has been a challenging time for all musos, I've tried to keep pretty productive through that period,” said Clancy.

“”Trying to stay disciplined and trying to produce at least a song a week — I think after a period of time, you kind of start to spark extra inspiration from doing it so frequently. So that has been a good thing to come out of COVID, I would say. I just feel like I'm at a point now, where I'm excited to release music and build my audience a little bit further.”

In the lead up to the Grand Final event in Tamworth on April 19, the ten Star Maker finalists will each be performing a free pop-up concert at their hometown Toyota dealerships.

“I've not played a car yard, so this is going to be quite a unique experience,” said Clancy.

“Toyota have sponsored the Star Maker competition for a very long time now, and they are huge supporters of country music in Australia in general.

“And it is really nice that we have the opportunity to play the pop-up gigs in the lead-up to the festival and for local fans to come along for a bit of a unique gig — and to be able to play our own songs as well! It should be a fun afternoon.”

Fans who attend the free pop-up concert will also have a chance to win a Tamworth  Country Music Festival experience prize. 

There will be special QR codes at each pop-up concert and, anyone who enters, will go into the draw to win two tickets to the Country Club at the Toyota Star Maker Grand Final, as well as two tickets to the Golden Guitar Awards, to Lee Kernaghan’s show, plus accommodation.

For our own pop-up concert, you can catch Clancy Pye live at Orange Toyota at 5pm on Friday, March 4.