Lawrence feels ‘at home’ in Deni

And in a true test of stamina, Lawrence not only performed on the Deni Ute Muster main stage over the weekend, she was the weekend’s MC and almost every time you looked around at the festival site she was there doing something.

The award-winning singer-songwriter said she enjoyed being involved in more than just the concert schedule.

“We were part of the Spirit of the Muster Festival, so we performed a band show, which was the end of the night. It was good fun,” she said.

Lawrence also joined local residents in a vocal flash mob performance of You're the Voice and collaborated with local men's singing group, The Gents, on a unique rendition of one of her songs.

“It was really awesome and seemed very popular. Yeah, it was so good, and what a great song to sing, so timely,” she said.

The week also included performing at Deni’s other Spirit of the Muster event, coordinated by Edward River Council and the Deniliquin Business Chamber on Wednesday.

Later the same day, Lawrence read her children’s book The Suburban Cowgirl for Storytime at Edward River Library.

For Lawrence, the opportunity to immerse herself in the community is one of the most rewarding aspects of returning to Deniliquin.

“I love being more than just an artist who comes in and leaves.

“I like being part of it all, helping that real full circle feeling for punters as well.

“People that have come here, they see a friendly face that they've seen over many years, and it just feels like you come back every year, and there's some consistencies.”

Having visited Deniliquin regularly for nearly two decades, Lawrence said the town has become one of a handful of places around Australia that feel like a second home.

“Deniliquin’s great for me. It's one of those towns that because you get to come here so often, you know a lot of people in the town,” she said.

“So you go into the coffee shop, and you get a hello, and you know, you're going to bump into someone you've met over the last 20 years - or the 18 years that I've been coming to Deni.

“I love that.

“There's only a handful of country towns around Australia that are like that for me.”

While this year's Muster brought chilly temperatures and muddy conditions early on, Lawrence said performers simply had to adapt.

“Definitely, it was chilly. It was a bit cold, but you know, the hard part is you got to be dressed for the job,” she said.

“You have to battle the elements a bit. Be a little bit cooler than you'd prefer.”

Despite the weather, Lawrence was eagerly anticipating her main stage appearance on Saturday night.

She promised a refreshed and energetic show, and she delivered.

“I'm really excited about tonight. It's a totally different show to the last show we did here,” she said before taking to the stage.

“We've got new songs, we've got new arrangements, we've got dances, we've got trumpets, saxophones.

“So we don't have fireworks or confetti, but we've got everything else.”