"Sometimes your true north is way out west."
These are one of Raechel Whitchurch's favourite lyrics she's ever written and right now they couldn't ring more true.
Since the country music artist and mother of three moved back to Parkes from Sydney with husband Ben and her young family, she's been nominated for two Golden Guitars again.
Her first dual nomination came in 2021, the year she returned home, for Best New Talent and Traditional Country Album of the Year, for her debut album 'Finally Clear'.
She's released another album and she has another two Golden Guitar nominations, this time for Contemporary Country Album of the Year and Toyota Album of the Year.
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It would seem Raechel belongs out west.
"Being nominated for a Golden Guitar is basically having all of your industry peers recognise you for the art you've created," she said.
"It's an overwhelming feeling and while most artists don't create their music purely for accolades and recognition, it's a really beautiful feeling to be accepted by the industry we're a part of."
More than 150 people including nominated artists and industry representatives gathered at the Oxford Art Factory in Sydney on November 19 for the announcement of 103 nominees, held by 50 artists across 16 categories.
Celebrating recording excellence and showcasing the cream of Australian country music artists, the Golden Guitars at the Tamworth Country Music Festival is the pinnacle awards event for country music.
Raechel was invited to perform a song at the nominations.
Though no stranger to singing at such prestigious gatherings - having performed at the Golden Guitar Awards before which she described as an incredible privilege - anything to do with the Golden Guitars can always be a little daunting.
"It's always a bit scary to perform at events like this because it's not your fans - it's the entire music industry," she said.
"It's also nerve racking because there's no guarantee you'll get a nomination, you just have to cross your fingers and hope for the best!"
Raechel said she really loved the way she pushed herself lyrically with her sophomore album 'what a time to be alive' which was released in May this year.
It debuted at number 1 on the Australian Country ARIA charts and the AIR charts, and number 4 on the all-genre ARIA Australian
Album charts.
"I chose to try and write more honestly with this album, and to 'leave some of the dirt on' so to speak," she said.
"I'm so proud that I took that risk, because it's resulted in an album that not only feels very authentic to me, it also seems to have connected with a whole lot of new fans."
Her hard work has paid off because she's had more publicity with this record than anything she's ever done, she said.
"The response to the album has been incredible."
She's toured with Ian Moss and The Whitlams, appeared on national television programs like ABC News Breakfast and Sky News, and she's appeared in Country Style and Capital News.
"But my favourite thing has been hearing people's connection to my song 'What A Time To Be Alive', a song I wrote about a misscarriage I had," Raechel said.
"This has created so many opportunities for people to open up to me about their own experience of loss and grief, sometimes for the first time, and that has felt like a real privilege."
Raechel has wrapped her last shows for the year but she's only allowing herself a brief interval before kicking off the year with a big show in Sydney and then onto the Tamworth Country Music Festival that starts on January 17.
"I'm co-headlining a show with Colin Buchanan, and also going to the awards," she said.
"We still have some shows and festivals to announce, but my next big thing is to write album three!"
The prestigious 2025 Golden Guitar Awards will be announced on January 25, during the Toyota 53rd Tamworth Country Music Festival and we'd like to wish Raechel the best of luck.
