Gabi Forman wasn't keen on bluegrass when her mum first dragged her to a folk festival.
Two years on, she has picked up one of the genre's emblematic instruments and is playing for crowds at the 54th Tamworth Country Music Festival.
With Gabi picking at a mandolin, her mother on the banjo and two close family friends on the double bass and guitar, the musicians cut striking figures as they sing for passers-by.
"It's chaotic, but it's so much fun and awesome to see so many people out on the street doing what they love," Forman, 19, told AAP.
"Music means everything to me.
"It's something that is just in your soul."
It's the second time the singer, songwriter and guitarist has performed at Australia's largest celebration of country music - and the first time she has played the festival with her mum and found family.
Gabi Forman and the Wayward Pilgrims are hoping to make themselves heard among 400 buskers filling the streets of Tamworth for this year's event.
Though most simply perform for the love of the game, busking in Tamworth is a rite of passage for many future country stars.
"Peel Street is the place where dreams begin," six-time Country Music Award of Australia winner and 2026 award show co-host Amber Lawrence told AAP.
"So many of us have started our careers by taking that pilgrimage to Tamworth, taking a look around and saying 'I'm just going to open my guitar case and see what happens'."
International country music superstar Keith Urban would have played at many of the same places when he cut his teeth at Tamworth some three decades ago.
In 1991, Urban won his first Golden Guitar for New Talent of the Year.
He has since become one of the genre's biggest representatives, won another 14 Golden Guitars and been inducted into the awards' Australian Roll of Renown.
"He would've been the guy who was going down there and busking and playing all the little shows," ARIA winner and 2026 Golden Guitar Awards co-host Casey Barnes told AAP.
"To go from that to being the biggest export we've ever had in country music is probably the best example of Tamworth."
Country music has been plagued by perceptions it is cringeworthy or outdated.
But its uptake by megastars such as Beyonce, the popularity of US country singers including Luke Combs and well-received live performances have helped shake off the stigma.
"It's like they have this perception about what country music is going to sound like," Barnes said.
"Then they come watch one of our shows and go, 'hang on a second, this is actually really good'."
The Tamworth Country Music Festival continues until Saturday.
AAP travelled with the assistance of Tamworth Country Music Festival
