The American country music singer-songwriter from Alabama brought his musical storytelling talents to the main stage.
Speaking to the Pastoral Times before the show, Braden said he was looking forward to the Deniliquin crowd.
“I mean, we'd heard a lot about Ute Muster coming out here, and we hear that the crowd's pretty out there, pretty crazy,” he said.
“And this is our first experience with it, so I'm excited about it.
“We've played CMC Rocks out here (in Australia) before, and that crowd was amazing.
“So just I think it's gonna be a crazy version of that tonight.
“We've played a lot of festivals over the years, I mean, you run into rain and mud. I mean, it's not ideal, but it'll be fun.
“I think it gets the crowd a little more loose once they're in it.”
Braden thrilled fans with a new show, and probably picked up a few new fans as a result.
“We've got a brand-new show that we've put together just for this Australia trip,” he said.
“We’ve got a lot of new music we're playing, and a lot of music that I played here for the first time when it was new, and it's exciting to come back and play it again, so it's gonna be fun.”
Braden brought the energy to the start of his performance, with his American country twang combined with his emotional songwriting.
He performed his new song Horseshoes & Hand Grenades, as well as songs exploring religion, addiction and relationships within his own country rock style from his debut studio album ‘Devil and a Prayer’.
Curious about comparisons between the United States and Australia, Braden conversed with the Ute Muster Crowd about ‘shoeys’, sport ahead of the NRL grand final and even managed a rousing ‘Aussie Aussie Aussie’ chant and response.
He then spoke about his passion for turning soft songs into rock, and finding a supportive crowd at Deniliquin playing a cover of Breakeven by The Script.
Braden said he appreciated being able to try out a sound for old and new fans to enjoy.
“We've always been a little bit rock leaning, but I think it's just you know kind of storytelling, and just kind of just staying true to myself.
“I've talked before about how it can be hard for your music to grow as an artist because you don't want to strand your fans who were fans of the first stuff.
“But I mean, it's fun to grow and as a songwriter and as an artist and watch the fans come with you.
“You're always looking for that next sound, but I think that's a great place to try it out, out here.”
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