Jonny looking forward to 2013

Few people are as excited about the start of 2013 as local country crooner Jonny Taylor.

After a hectic 2012, taking out the Capital Country Music Association’s National Talent Quest, appearing on Australia’s Got Talent and touring alone and in support of Leo Sayer, Daryl Braithwaite and Shannon Noll, the Busselton boy has hit the ground running in the New Year.

Currently on a national tour, Taylor will appear as one of 15 finalists in the prestigious Toyota Star Maker competition at the Tamworth Country Music Festival at the end of the month.

“I’m jumping out of my skin a little bit at the moment,” Taylor said.

“The Star Maker competition is huge, I’ve never been so hungry to win anything in my life.”

Keith Urban, Samantha McClymont and Lee Kernaghan have all previously won the coveted Star Maker competition, one of the best possible launching pads for an Australian country singer’s career.

“When you travel around touring as much as I do, you can become disheartened and feel like you’re not making progress,” Taylor said.

“That’s when you have to take a step back and take stock and you always realise that you’ve achieved a lot more than you thought.”

One of those achievements includes building a house in Mandurah with wife Nicole, a welcome change from the months spent on the road living in a van.

“We’ve got a permanent roof over our heads now, thankfully, and 2013 is looking to be a great year,” Taylor said.

“That said, we are tenting it a fair bit at the moment while we’re touring in South Australia and we’ve had some 40 degree plus days so that’s been interesting.”

A knockout performance at the Star Maker competition could see Taylor swapping his tent for expensive hotel rooms in the not too distant future.