Her third time in CMC Rocks was an illustration of how far Melanie's career had come, as she performed to huge crowds from the main stage. It was a moment to remember for the young singer-songwriter.

"When I was booked for the festival I assumed I'd be playing the smaller stage as I'd done in the past years, but when CMC announced playing times and I saw that I would be on main stage, I ugly-cried for a solid hour," she said.

"I'm so grateful to have been given that opportunity to step up as a young artist." 

Around 24,000 country music fans attended the Willowbank, Qld event, which is billed as the southern hemisphere's premiere country music festival.

Melanie said she felt "extremely lucky" be among the handful of Australians featured in the  lineup along with a number of international artists, including Luke Combs, Thomas Rhett and Florida Georgia Line. 

She said she did "absolutely everything" possible to prepare for the exciting performance, from band rehearsals to rearranging her set list about 10 times.

 "I took it very seriously. And I think that paid off - it was the best feeling. I'm still buzzing!" she said.

Melanie has made leaps and bounds since blowing away the judges in her The Voice television show debut in 2012. Stars Joel Madden, Keith Urban, Seal and Delta Goodrem kicked themselves for not picking the Mount Russell girl after seeing her true talent shine through in an original song.

The moment is now just a footnote in her career, with her 2017 single Fresh smashing the charts, occupying the top spot of the Australian Country Airplay Chart for five consecutive weeks. 

Melanie introduced the festival-goers to some brand new songs on the Thursday night, and brought them back for her Sunday set.

"I couldn't believe that the crowd were singing along the words to those new songs already!" she said.

The country crowd embraced the weekend's wet weather, making for a unique atmosphere.

"People had ski ropes and giant inflatable flamingos that they were sliding around on in the mud pit!"