For the first time ever, 2006 Australian Idol winner and award-winning artist, Damien Leith performed live at the Australian Celtic Festival.
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The Examiner caught up with the Irish singer-songwriter before his set on Saturday.
“It’s my second visit to Glen Innes – I was here three years ago for the [music] awards,” he said.
“It’s good to be back and I’ve just been up to the festival area … it’s fantastic.”
Mr Leith said he looked forward to spending some time at the Stones – to see just what the 25th festival had to offer.
“I’ve done a lot of different festivals and it’s a really cool vibe up there and feels very authentic among the stones on the hill,” he said.
Born in Dublin, Mr Leith grew up in County Kildare – part of the Mid-East region where the movie Braveheart was filmed.
“I’m from a village way smaller than this [Glen Innes],” he said.
“It’s a little town with a church, two pubs and a shop and that’s our little village.”
Last year marked 10 years since Mr Leith won Australian Idol against some 25,000 other contestants.
To celebrate, the musician hit the road as part of a 10th anniversary tour.
“We ended up doing about 50 shows around a lot of regional areas and it was brilliant because we got to revisit all those original songs,” he said.
He said Saturday’s show in Glen Innes would be a mix of everything.
“I’ll do some Irish stuff and then probably a mixture of the last 10 years – including the Roy [album] and anything else I’ve done along the way,” he said.