His big smile emerges as I remind him of this, and his mum Rae laughs. Most people I interview for this page are not accompanied by a family member, but let’s remember, even though it’s a decade later, this talented young man is only 18 years old, but now has a significantly more important title on his mantle – 2019 Toyota Star Maker.

Blake says he was more nervous before taking the stage for the final at the Tamworth Country Music Festival. 

“Once I got on stage I was fine, but for the interviews, and the hype behind it all, and the waiting, that’s when I was nervous,” he says.

When you consider he was a prolific winner at the Port Macquarie & District Music Eisteddfod at age 14, performed as a soloist at Schools Spectacular in front of 20,000 people at age 15, sang the New Zealand National Anthem at Anzac Day ceremonies in 2016 as a year 10 student of Hastings Secondary College, and auditioned for X Factor that same year, you can see why stepping onto a stage doesn’t phase him.

Another highlight of 2016 was when a former school mate asked him to play a couple of songs at his mother’s birthday party in November. “When we got there Adam Eckersley & Brooke McClymont and Shannon Noll were there to perform as well. It was more like a home music festival.” He was supposed to sing for 15 minutes, but ended up singing for two hours. “A big thanks to Hugh Grainger for that, as Adam and Brooke have become good friends and great mentors to me.”  

Blake is no stranger to the Tamworth’s biggest event having entered all the junior contests (winning four from five) and busking around the town there in 2017. From those wins came his own gigs at the 2018 festival.

Multiple Golden Guitar winner Adam Brand happened to stop by at one of those gigs Blake. “He came up to me later and asked me what I was doing on Thursday night and would I like to open for him.” 

A scholarship to attend the Tamworth Country Music Academy under chairperson Dan Biddle, with Ashleigh Dallas as his mentor, and sessions with Australian country music great Kasey Chambers, were also part of his 2017 winnings.

Fast forward to January 2019, and he was finally old enough to enter the Star Maker contest. When his mum Rae got the call to say he had made the top 10, she started “dancing in the arcade” they were walking through.

At the January 20 final, he sang a cover of the Mountain Daredevils’ If You Wanna Get to Heaven and his  original song Worth a Little More. In the audience were supporters and family, including Blake’s primary school teacher John Rigg, and Adam Eckersley and Brooke McClymont. The coterie of fans wore black Blake O’Connor Music t-shirts and “all went nuts” when Blake’s name was called.

Blake says he was shocked and is still coming to terms with it all. The following day he was picked up at 5.30am and didn’t stop until 8.50pm. In the 10 days of the festival he performed 25 gigs. 

He was plunged into a media whirlwind, completing 30 interviews since the announcement, including a live appearance on Channel 7’s Sunrise program during which his dad Paul, who admitted to feeling a bit “dusty”, was hauled in front of the camera, much to his dismay.

Apart from the Toyota Rav he has use of for 12 months – in which he has already racked up 1000 kilometres – his prize includes a recording session with Australia’s top musicians and producer, and the recording, distribution and promotion of a four-track EP.

Last year, Blake’s debut EP, featuring six tracks, reached No.2 on the ARIA Top 40 Country Album chart, and No.1 on the Australian Independent Record Labels Association chart. 

With “about 20” songs up his sleeve, he hopes to release and album in the not too distant future. He says he writes about experiences in general, especially those that relate to him. Although one of his first songs was a song about getting married. 

“I just thought about what it would be like,” he says. One couple loved it so much they asked him to sing it for their wedding at Sails Resort. 

He will spend this year concentrating on his music, performing at Toyota-sponsored events, travelling to England’s Buckle And Boots festival at Stockport in May, and Nashville’s Country Music Festival in June, plus our own Wingham Akoostik Festival, Deni Ute Muster, Gympie Muster and more.

Last year’s Star Maker winner Brad Cox put more than 75,000 kilometres on his Toyota with his trailer home attached to it, but Blake is not daunted by the looming hectic schedule. 

“I’ve never not wanted to do it. I started to play guitar and then sing, then play guitar and sing. I love playing big crowds, the bigger the better.

“It’s getting my bags at the airport and my guitar that I worry about.” That’s the kind of down-to-earth young man Blake is, a trait mum Rae says he gets from dad Paul.

His supportive family will be behind him all the way as he travels on his musical journey.

“When I look back on videos, I used to think he was awesome then, now I go ‘oh my God Blake what was that?’, Rae says. “We just told him to keep practising.”

“Paul made a deal that if Blake mowed the lawn for two years without pay, he would get a guitar,” Rae says. 

“I’m still mowing it after four years,” Blake chips in. “Once he got it, he didn’t put it down”, Rae adds.

Now, with the new Maton guitar he received in his prize package, he has 17 of them. “When you go from a $500 guitar to a $2000 one, you can hear the difference,” Blake says.

His first gig post Tamworth is this Friday, February 1, at Nabiac Hotel. He then heads into the studio to start recording next week, before heading back out on the road as support on Adam and Brooke’s The Highway Sky Tour from March 1 until May 3. 

Luckily for us, the tour includes a stop at Wauchope RSL on March 2.