AUSTRALIANS aren't the only ones to have caught on to the talent of three-time Golden Guitar male vocalist of the year Adam Harvey .
Harvey recently uncovered a new fan base in China this year when he was invited to perform at the Chaoyang Pop Music Festival in Beijing.
The Chaoyang Pop Music Festival, which drew an audience of over 300,000 during the week, is held in the Chaoyang district of Beijing, a province of about 3 million people.
Harvey was a huge hit at the festival and has shown there is strong interest in country music in China.
He was the only Aussie on the star- studded festival list and the Chinese audiences loved his strong ballads and the fact that he was performing live without backing tracks as many of the country's pop stars do.
Harvey's laidback style and his deep Aussie voice went down so well with both the audience and organisers that his third performance was moved from the afternoon to the major evening concert on the main stage.
Finding himself a star performer on the festival's grand final line-up on Saturday, Harvey spent his day off learning to sing a favourite local song, Nanewan , with the tour guide during a day bus trip.
``I thought at first that the language barrier would make it so hard, you know. I thought it would be my toughest gig ever, but it was great,'' Harvey said.
``They're pretty subdued as an audience. They don't go crazy and dance all over the place like they do in Tamworth during January, but they stand and they listen and they seem pretty impressed with it all.'' Harvey's trip was organised by Tamworth Regional Council after an invitation from last January's Chaoyang delegation to Tamworth, when Chinese acrobats performed at the Tamworth Festival's opening concert.
Plans are now under way for Harvey to return to next year's festival and to complete his own tours.
``I think it will lead to even bigger things, not just for me but for Australian country music,'' Harvey said.
It was a real eye-opener for the Australian country music star and primed him for another series of overseas touring.
This month Harvey returned to Leg 4 Canada where he was supporting his album Workin' Overtime , which was released there last year.
He played two of the major northern summer country music festivals, Merritt Mountain and The Calgary Stampede. Fans will have the chance to see Harvey live for themselves when he perform two shows in the Hunter Region next week.
Harvey plays Hexham Bowling Club on Thursday, July 28, and Toronto District Workers Club on Friday, July 29.
Bookings can be made at the venues.
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