Redlander Jake Murdoch, 12 has been told he plays Run Baby Run better than INXS's Andrew Farriss by the man himself.
Farriss spotted Jake at the the Tamworth Country Music Festival's Country Music Hall of Fame in April just as he was playing the Farriss hit.
Since then Farriss has offered support and advice to Jake in his bid to break into the industry as a performer and song writer.
"It has been unbelievable and a few things have come of it," Jake's mother Natalie said.
In Tamworth, Jake won the Capital Country Music Association (CMAA) Junior talent quest and was invited to perform with the Andrew Farriss and The Rainmakers at The Moonshiners Honky Tonk Bar.
"It was a fully ticketed event and Jake got to sit with the band in the green room. It was a great experience to play and sing with the band," Ms Murdoch said.
Jake said there was a lot of dancing and quite an experience to play with the professionals.
"Jake has been a fan of Andrew Farriss since he was about five years old and to meet his musical idol was a dream come true," Ms Murdoch said.
Jake has also formed an affiliation with Tania Kernaghan and features in the May edition of the TK Club, again singing the chorus of Run Baby Run. (/taniakernaghan.com/subscribe-to-tk-page/)
Keen to work on his song writing, Jake is also collaborating with Starmaker Max Jackson to write a country pop song. The pair get together weekly on Zoom, since their introduction by Gina Jeffreys. Jake will attend a song writing camp with the CMAA in July.
This year he was also awarded a highly commended for the Queensland Music Awards in Youth section for his song Just Like A Rocket.
He has had many other awards in 2022 including World Music Awards, Tamworth Songwriting Association and the International Songwriting Association. He also was a semi finalist in the recent 7 News Young Achiever Awards. Jake will appear at the 2022 RedFest on main stage and is also a finalist at the Gympie Music Muster.
In September 2021, he released his self titled debut EP Jakeycakes.
Jake plays 13 instruments, including lead, slide, rhythm, acoustic and bass guitar, banjo, stompbox, ukulele, cajon, voice, harmonica, percussion and piano. He also creates and performs his own backing tracks.
He is a regular performer at festivals, shopping centres and markets.