{"id":794493,"date":"2026-07-12T00:39:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T00:39:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/794493\/"},"modified":"2026-07-12T00:39:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T00:39:16","slug":"a-wall-in-australias-country-music-capital-keeps-family-legacies-alive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/794493\/","title":{"rendered":"A wall in Australia’s country music capital keeps family legacies alive"},"content":{"rendered":"

The mirror image of her mother, Anne Kirkpatrick proudly sings the melodies of one of her parents’ most iconic musical collaborations, Lights on the Hill.<\/p>\n

Joy McKean was awarded the first-ever Golden Guitar award at the Tamworth Country Music Festival in 1973 for the iconic song written for her husband, Slim Dusty.<\/p>\n

The song’s lyrics have now been immortalised in Australia’s country music capital in the form of a new mural of McKean titled Ode to Joy at Tamworth’s Town Hall.<\/p>\n

While Lights on the Hill might be considered McKean’s masterpiece, it is just one of many hit songs written by the Australian country music star.<\/p>\n

“The fact that the song has lasted and everyone sings it still, after she wrote it in the early 70s, it’s a testimony to the great song,” Kirkpatrick said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The mural, named Ode to Joy, celebrates the contributions musician and songwriter Joy McKean made to Country Music. (ABC News: Nat Little)<\/p>\n

Performing at the mural’s official opening, Kirkpatrick said she hoped passers-by recognised the impact her parents had on country music.<\/p>\n

“She was a great songwriter and an incredible person.<\/p>\n

“I hope they go back to the history of country music and realise that Slim and Joy played an enormous part in pioneering country music in Australia.”Mural captures star’s ‘spirit’<\/p>\n

The mural depicts McKean singing happily as well as a portrait with her husband and other symbols of her iconic country music legacy.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Joy McKean’s children Anne and David say the mural celebrates the legacy of their mother and father. (ABC News: Nat Little)<\/p>\n

Mural artist Charlie Nivison worked alongside McKean’s children to create the mural, wanting to ensure he captured her essence correctly.<\/p>\n

“I’m totally overwhelmed; he’s [Nivison] just captured the spirit of my mum and my dad in this mural, it’s an incredible piece of work,” Kirkpatrick said.<\/p>\n

“It’s so beautiful, it’s so vibrant and alive, you can almost hear the music coming out of it.”<\/p>\n

Joy and Slim’s son, David Kirkpatrick, said he hoped the mural’s viewers recognised the musical history of his parents and Tamworth.<\/p>\n

“This is a very important site because it’s opposite the town hall where the first Golden Guitar was awarded to Joy,” he said.<\/p>\n

“They were very important to the success of the first awards and they backed it all the way.”<\/p>\n

Another family legacy behind the paint<\/p>\n

Looking up at his creation, Nivison could not help but reflect on the family legacy lying behind the paint.<\/p>\n

In 1983, his father, Angus, was commissioned by the Tamworth Regional Council to paint a mural on the car park wall of Tamworth Town Hall.<\/p>\n

The money he made funded his plane ticket across the world to go after the girl of his dreams.<\/p>\n

“The money dad earned from doing the commission in ’83 allowed him to travel to go see mum overseas when he proposed,” Nivison said.<\/p>\n

“It was the wall that allowed him to go chase mum. Who knows if I’d be here if it wasn’t for the wall, the council and this mural.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Walcha artist Charlie Nivison’s artwork replaces his father’s previous mural at the site. (ABC News: Nat Little)<\/p>\n

“I probably wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for this wall.”<\/p>\n

Now, years later, Charlie Nivison has been commissioned by the council just like his father was, to create a new colourful celebration of the city.<\/p>\n

The Nivison family said the mural was a full-circle moment, bringing together father and son’s artistic endeavours.<\/p>\n

Angus Nivison said it was about time his mural was recommissioned and it was a total surprise that his son would be the artist to take his brushstrokes to the wall.<\/p>\n

“I’m a very proud dad, I think it’s lovely, I love it and I’m under no pressure at all,” he laughed.<\/p>\n

“It ties in the first winner and the beginnings of what made Tamworth the word on everybody’s lips.”<\/p>\n

\"Group<\/p>\n

The mural wall has brought more than one family together, with artist Charlie Nivison saying he might not be here without it. (ABC News: Nat Little)<\/p>\n

Charlie Nivison hopes to pass the paintbrush onto the next generation of Nivison artists.<\/p>\n

“Public art is such an amazing thing and it just creates community, a sense of belonging and culture,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I don’t think it’s very often there’s a kind of generational wall, so maybe I’ll have to inspire one of my kids to pick up a brush in another 30 years and have a crack.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The mirror image of her mother, Anne Kirkpatrick proudly sings the melodies of one of her parents’ most…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":794494,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[11480,64,63,6982,134,2582,373777,373775,57481,373774,373776],"class_list":["post-794493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-art","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-country-music","tag-entertainment","tag-family","tag-golden-guitar","tag-joy-mckean","tag-mural","tag-music-mural","tag-slim-dusty"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=794493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794493\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/794494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=794493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=794493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=794493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}