Main Stage, Friday August 29 - 6.00pm

Crowbar, Saturday August 30 - 9.20pm

STEVE FORDE

Who is Steve Forde?
Aside from being a farmer and former bareback bronco rider, Steve ialso one of country music's biggest touring acts. Add singer, songwriter and entrepreneur to the mix, and you're starting to get an idea about the man. His ethos? "Hard Work‚ Long Days‚ Hard Work‚ Hard Play". He's not traditional; he breaks new ground, writes his own ticket and doesn't conform to the mould. Steve is an enigma.

Meet Steve Forde…
Born in the regional farming centre of Cowra in 1977, Steve's parents were battlers and had a dream of one day rising from the dust and owning their own property.

Steve spent most of his early childhood moving from town to town across NSW with his family; where there was good work available‚ that's where the family would go. It was in these early years that simple life philosophies were deeply ingrained in him. As a result of that hard work and dedication, Steve Forde and his family are now farmers and landowners in their own right.

It was at the age of 18 that Forde joined his first band and tasted the life of a touring country musician - the late nights‚ the poor money‚ the long miles - he loved every minute of it and knew this was what he wanted to do. It was also during this time that, like all young‚ developing sensible‚ sensitive artists, Steve decided that bull riding looked like a good idea and a heap of fun. So without care or concern to his guitar hands, or the rest of his body, he climbed on his first angry beast and away he went…

In 1998 Forde boldly said goodbye to the farm and band and headed to the USA for a taste of the action in Texas. He bought himself a whopping‚ great‚ clunky heap of '63 Dodge Polara‚ filled her up with fuel‚ checked the oil and set himself loose on the highways and open roads of the USA.

Naturally, Steve met some new friends in Texas and joined a country music band. They played in places like Colorado‚ South Dakota and Canada. When the gigs were lean, the young Aussie could be found working in bars‚ building fences or riding bareback broncos in Lubbock Texas; making a name for himself as fearless‚ tough or just "that crazy Aussie guy".

Sadly‚ tragedy stuck when Steve's travelling mate from Brisbane broke his back riding bareback and had to be flown home to Australia. This left Steve concerned for his mate's welfare but also short of a travelling companion and rodeo buddy. The old Dodge was also dying‚ and money was tight. Steve made it to Kansas and took up a contract harvesting corn. Cashed up again and armed with his guitar and a kit bag full of new songs, Steve headed off to Nebraska.

On the way, the old Dodge dropped its gearbox‚ curled up its toes and died. He then hitched a ride to Missouri where he met a guy in a bar heading to a rodeo in Franklin‚ Tennessee. Steve took another lift to the rodeo and chanced his luck on winning some much-needed money.
A smashed thumb later, Steve headed back to Nashville where he was introduced to songwriter, Dan Roberts - one of Garth Brooks' former touring acts. They hit it off well and Steve began to work on some new music with this great new friend.

Upon hearing that his father needed help on the farm, Steve headed back to Australia without hesitation. Keeping true to his roots, Steve bought his farm‚ near Grenfell in central New South Wales, and kept riding rodeos on the weekends.

In 2000 Steve started a band he called 'Steve Forde and the Flange'. The Flange started playing small shows throughout their immediate area‚ then moved on to Tamworth and then again onto the national Rodeo Circuit. Enthused by the great response the band was getting, Steve sent some demos to Nashville producer Mark Moseley, who liked what he heard.

As a result, Steve Forde and the Flange's debut album, Livin' Right, was released in May 2002 and the band's first film clip, 'Rodeo Freak', was released at the same time.

The album impressed many and the band received two Golden Guitar nominations at the 2003 CMAA Country Music Awards (Golden Guitars). The second single, 'That's What I'm Talking About', spent twenty-six weeks in the CMC top twenty.

Overdrive is a good word for what happened next. With the release of Livin' Right and successful subsequent tours, Steve decided that music was where his heart truly was. After consultation with his family‚ his younger brother took over running the farms so Steve could go hard with his rapidly rising popularity.

His second album, Wild Ride, was again recorded in Nashville in December 2003 with Mark Moseley, although this time Steve co-produced as well as penning all of the tracks. The first single, 'The Letter', was released and promptly entered the CMC charts in the top ten where it stayed in the #1 position for three weeks.

He then released a third album, titled Rowdy. It featured country music as it's never been heard before - it included some high-tech hip hop loops, authentic and very cool rapping from the likes of Vanilla Ice and Doobie. Yet the album remained unmistakably country - Steve's powerful songs, heartfelt vocals and strong country sensitivity made sure of that.

"The album kind of evolved - if I'd planned to do it this way, I think I may have baulked at taking these kinds of risks. But each time a track came out the way it did, we'd listen and realised that it was really cool, and that it worked," said Forde.

Steve musical tastes are as diverse as his lifestyle. His live set can consist of any repertoire from his three self-penned albums to a mélange of Kid Rock's 'Cowboy' and Eminem's 'Lose Yourself' to classic Gary Allan and even AC/DC and Poison. Steve has followed the line of artists that don't play by the rules; instead, his music and attitude inspires and reinvents the genre. Like Kenny Chesney in the US, Steve brings a legion of new fans to Country music by casting stereotypes aside and giving some edge to the scene.

Steve also made a point of keeping his live show in mind when recording his latest music.
"My previous albums have been quite different from what we do live. I really wanted to merge the two parts of my music, and on this record I was able to do just that," he said.

In the early days, Steve toured with a bunch of his mates and played to rooms with a handful of people. In just five years, Steve has built an incredible tour and now plays to crowds many other artists would dream of. In areas across Australia where pubs may struggle to fill a room, Steve can pull crowds of five to fifteen thousand when he rolls into town. He also headlines most of the major country music festivals in Australia along with his comrades Lee Kernaghan and Adam Brand. They include the Gympie Muster, Deniliquin Ute Muster and the popular Tamworth Country Music Festival, where Steve holds his own night at the National Rodeo Finals, drawing crowds in excess of three thousand each night.

As fans eagerly welcomed his unmistakable energy, Forde's popularity on the Country Music Channel soared and subsequently, he was signed up as a channel personality. He quickly became involved in special channel programming. "The Steve Forde Roadshow" aired for the first time in 2003 and he now hosts the "Rollin With" series which documents the careers of country's biggest acts.

With the same less-than-conservative approach he takes to music, Steve has also built three massive tour buses - in typical US extravagance - and also manages his own staging business, FEG (www.fegentertainment.com), where he can roll a road train into a field and deliver a massive show to a crowd of thousands. It's a business that he's built from scratch, in the same way he's built his own brand.

In June 2007 Forde teamed up with Lee Kernaghan and Adam Brand to release the single, 'Spirit Of The Bush', a song dedicated to the strength of regional Australians battling the drought. The song topped ARIA Australian Artists Singles Chart and hit #11 on the national ARIA Singles Chart.

Following this success, Forde signed a solo-deal with leading country label, ABC Music, and is set to release his self-titled album on September 22.

Forde teamed up with leading US producer Richard Landis for this latest album project. Landis' track record is very impressive, having produced high selling albums with the likes of superstars Vince Gill, Neil Diamond, Kenny Rogers, Eddie Rabbitt and Ronnie Milsap; just to name a few.

With his original band, Steve Forde & The Flange, Steve sold nearly 25,000 albums without a major record label. His potential post-Flange is unquestionable.

Get to know Steve Forde. He's changing country music and you'll want to be part of it…