It has been an exciting year for teenager Blake O'Connor.
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The 18-year-old singer from Port Macquarie won Toyota Star Maker at the Tamworth Country Music Festival in January and it's been a busy time ever since, including travelling to the UK and Nashville earlier this month.
On Saturday night he played the songs from his forthcoming album, as well as plenty of covers, when he performed at the Aussie Hotel.
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Star Maker has launched the careers of stars such as Keith Urban and Lee Kernaghan, and the latest winner is one of the youngest ever to take out the title.
Among the prizes was the use of a Toyota vehicle for the year, booked festival performances and a recording release.
In early June he appeared at CMAFest in Nashville USA - the biggest country music festival in the world - and before that he was in the UK to play at the Buckle & Boots Festival in Manchester.
He was in Nashville for about two weeks after a week in Manchester. Now back in Australia, O'Connor will release his debut album, Everything I Feel, in Tamworth on July 12.
The album was recorded at the home of country stars (and husband and wife) Adam Eckersley and Brooke McClymont on the Central Coast.
"Adam produced it and Brooke did all the backing vocals," O'Connor said.
"We had the drum kit in the lounge room and all the guitar amplifiers in each bedroom, working as an isolation box."
He said his songs were a mix of old-school country, through to bluesy jazz.
"That's pretty much me, I listen to all types of music, so to capture it all in one album is pretty cool."
O'Connor brought his band to Inverell for Saturday night's gig to play his songs and spoke to The Inverell Times before the gig.
"I'll preview the album, play some of my old stuff and a couple of covers," he said.
"I'm looking forward to the gig, I played at Inverell a few years ago and it went down alright.
"My dad's mate (Brock Mathers) had a birthday party out there and he's a bit of a muso so he asked me to come out and play a set. It was good fun."
