Biography
Troy Cassar-Daley ranks among Australia's foremost contemporary country artists, recognized for his approachable persona, his pairings with legends including Slim Dusty and Jimmy Barnes, and his stints on the program It Takes Two.
Born to an Aboriginal mother and a Maltese father, he divided his early years between Grafton, New South Wales, where his mother resided, and Sydney, the home of his father. A childhood trip to the Tamworth Country Music Festival proved transformative. Self-taught on guitar, he performed on the street in front of a music store, cycling through the same four songs to cover the allotted quarter-hour. During his teenage years he started the group Little Eagle, which placed among the top ten in Tamworth's Star Maker Quest before claiming victory in the Search for a Star contest. After traveling remote Australian regions alongside Brian Young, he settled back in Grafton as frontman for the Blue Heeler Band, taking the spot left by James Blundell upon the latter's departure for a solo path.
Without band support, Cassar-Daley cut the track "Dream Out Loud," issued by Sony Music in 1995. The single reached the summit of the Australian country charts, prompting swift release of the well-received album Beyond the Dancing, which earned an ARIA Award for Best Country Record plus a Golden Guitar for Best Male Vocal at the Tamworth Country Music Festival, an event that became a fixture for him. His next effort, 1997's True Believer, secured three additional Golden Guitars. Further albums continued the pattern of recognition: Big River in 1999, Long Way Home in 2002, Borrowed & Blue in 2004—which included covers and joint performances with Paul Kelly and Ian Moss—and Brighter Day in 2005.
He took part in two editions of the televised contest It Takes Two, matching professionals with well-known figures. A 2007 compilation drew its title from his song "Born to Survive." Moving to the independent Australian imprint Liberation, he issued I Love This Place in 2009, Live—captured at Sydney's Seymour Centre—in 2010, and Home in 2012. In 2013 he teamed with fellow countryman Adam Harvey to reinterpret standards on The Great Country Songbook for Sony Music. Freedom Ride appeared in March 2015 via Liberation, spotlighting work with Jimmy Barnes and, on the title song commemorating the 1965 Freedom Ride that secured federal civil rights for Indigenous Australians, Paul Kelly. Things I Carry Around followed a year afterward, marking his initial Australian number-one album.
Born to an Aboriginal mother and a Maltese father, he divided his early years between Grafton, New South Wales, where his mother resided, and Sydney, the home of his father. A childhood trip to the Tamworth Country Music Festival proved transformative. Self-taught on guitar, he performed on the street in front of a music store, cycling through the same four songs to cover the allotted quarter-hour. During his teenage years he started the group Little Eagle, which placed among the top ten in Tamworth's Star Maker Quest before claiming victory in the Search for a Star contest. After traveling remote Australian regions alongside Brian Young, he settled back in Grafton as frontman for the Blue Heeler Band, taking the spot left by James Blundell upon the latter's departure for a solo path.
Without band support, Cassar-Daley cut the track "Dream Out Loud," issued by Sony Music in 1995. The single reached the summit of the Australian country charts, prompting swift release of the well-received album Beyond the Dancing, which earned an ARIA Award for Best Country Record plus a Golden Guitar for Best Male Vocal at the Tamworth Country Music Festival, an event that became a fixture for him. His next effort, 1997's True Believer, secured three additional Golden Guitars. Further albums continued the pattern of recognition: Big River in 1999, Long Way Home in 2002, Borrowed & Blue in 2004—which included covers and joint performances with Paul Kelly and Ian Moss—and Brighter Day in 2005.
He took part in two editions of the televised contest It Takes Two, matching professionals with well-known figures. A 2007 compilation drew its title from his song "Born to Survive." Moving to the independent Australian imprint Liberation, he issued I Love This Place in 2009, Live—captured at Sydney's Seymour Centre—in 2010, and Home in 2012. In 2013 he teamed with fellow countryman Adam Harvey to reinterpret standards on The Great Country Songbook for Sony Music. Freedom Ride appeared in March 2015 via Liberation, spotlighting work with Jimmy Barnes and, on the title song commemorating the 1965 Freedom Ride that secured federal civil rights for Indigenous Australians, Paul Kelly. Things I Carry Around followed a year afterward, marking his initial Australian number-one album.
Albums
Between the Fires
2024
50 Songs 50 Towns, Vol. 5
2022
50 Songs 50 Towns, Vol. 4
2022
50 Songs 50 Towns, Vol. 3
2022
50 Songs 50 Towns, Vol. 2
2022
50 Songs 50 Towns, Vol. 1
2022
Together Alone Tour (2022 Limited Edition)
2022
The World Today
2021
Christmas for Cowboys
2020
The Great Country Songbook
2013
The Great Country Songbook (With Track x Track)
2013
Big River
1999
True Believer
1997
Beyond the Dancing
1995
Singles
