Country music fans flock to Thredbo
Phil Vassar rocks the crowd on Saturday night.
By Alyssa Braithwaite and Katherine Field
It's a haven for skiers in winter, but this weekend country music fans flocked to the grassy slopes of Thredbo to kick up their heels.
Come rain, hail or shine, nothing was going to stop them from enjoying two days of Australian and international country artists for the CMC Rocks The Snowys music festival.
Farmers are used to battling the elements - and they came prepared for all conditions.
Akubra hats, Driza-Bone coats, RM Williams footwear and gumboots were the uniform as the rain poured down in the NSW Snowy Mountains ski resort town on Friday.
Parts of the Friday Flat beginners' slope turned into mud pits, becoming stomping grounds for happy revellers.
Guy Sebastian is not known for country tunes but he headlined Friday night's festivities and got the crowd moving with a string of old Motown classics and an unexpected rendition of Stealers Wheel's 1972 hit Stuck in the Middle With You.
Rising country music star Sinead Burgess joined Sebastian on stage to duet on Art Of Love, the song he originally sang with US popstar Jordin Sparks.
Country darling Kasey Chambers entertained the damp crowd with a selection of her solo hits like True Colours and Not Pretty Enough as well as songs from Rattlin' Bones, her 2008 album with husband Shane Nicholson.
Saturday brought sunshine and warm weather and along with it blue singlets, denim shorts and sunscreen.
The laid-back festival sees artists and fans meet and mingle, among them Amber Lawrence, Steve Forde, Lee Kernaghan, Adam Harvey, Doc Walker and Jetty Road.
Singer and Bran Nue Dae star Dan Sultan said part of the festival's appeal was its easy-going vibe and picturesque setting.
"It's a great crowd here - they're ready to dig and they're ready to have fun," Sultan told AAP.
"You look out on the hills and there's all this mist. It's a very beautiful spot."
It is the third year the festival has been held in Thredbo and in previous years performers such as Taylor Swift, Shannon Noll and Pete Murray have graced its stages.
The festival was filmed for pay TV's Country Music Channel, with a six-hour special to be broadcast over the Easter long weekend next month.
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