Slim Dusty is known as the ‘Father of Australian Country Music’
and  was born on 13 June 1927 as David Gordon Kirkpatrick at Kempsey,
New South Wales, Australia. He grew up on his father’s dairy farm
at nearby Nulla Nulla Creek and at the young age of 10
he wrote his first song, ‘The Way the Cowboy Dies’

While still working on the family property,
Slim sang during intervals at cinemas,
at rodeos and community concerts and even did some busking on the streets..
In fact he sang whenever and wherever he could.

In 1942 he gatecrashed radio station 2KM Kempsey to record at his own expense,
his first record,  “Song for the Aussies” and “My Final Song.” 
In 1946 he signed a recording contract with Columbia for their Regal Zonophone label
and recorded six titles including  his first country classic
“When the Rain Tumbles down in July”., which he had written the year before.
Then in 1948 he began a part time career with periodic radio and tent
and hall show appearances. He married  country singer songwriter Joy McKean
in 1951 which produced a daughter Anne Kirkpatrick, an accomplished singer
songwriter in her own right and a son David Kirkpatrick
who also appears in the family show.

He began a full time show business career in 1954 and began his travelling
“Slim Dusty Show” and was supported by such greats as Chad Morgan,
Johnny Ashcroft and Gordon Parsons.  It was on April Fools day in 1957
that he recorded Gordon Parson’s  “A Pub With No Beer” which became
Australia’s first Gold record and completely changed Slim’s life.
After his success with this recording, many of Australia’s country song
writers began writing songs having Slim in mind, such as Shorty Ranger,
Mack Cormack, Stan Coster and Joe Daly . Slims first LP album was produced in 1960.   
In 1964 he and Joy began their annual 10 month country tour of Australia
covering a harrowing 48,00 kilometres (30,000 miles) and in 1969
his first tour of New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
While in New Zealand he introduced his wife’s song “ Lights on the Hill”
which won her the  “Song of the Year”  and the “Best Single” for Slim
and also the “Best LP” for “Me and My Guitar” at the inaugural
Tamworth Australasian Country Music Awards. 

In 1970 he was awarded the MBE (Member of the British Empire)
to be followed in 1998 with the OOA (Officer of the Order of Australia).
Over the years he has been awarded numerous awards such as
‘Father of the Year’, ‘Senior Australian of the Year’, ‘Artist of the Decade’,.
He has been voted a ‘National Living Treasure’, Recorded 110 Albums,
collected 37 Golden Guitars at the Tamworth Country Music Awards and many,
many gold and Platinum sales for his songs. He was honoured to close
the Sydney Olympics with his rendition of “Waltzing Matilda”
with a crowd of 100,000 enthusiastically joining in.

Sadly, at the age of 76, Slim Dusty passed away on September 19th, 2003,
at his St. Ives home in Sydney, after a long battle with cancer,
and was honoured with a state funeral. Member of Parliament and ex frontman
of Midnight Oil, Peter Garrett said of Slim, “.
‘He traversed generations, He crossed over musical genres with his distinctive
and authentically Australian voice. In pioneering terms,
first he made country a musical form that was viable in Australia
 – it was Australian country music;”