Our Story
Two-time Golden Guitar winner Tom Curtain's award winning Katherine Outback Experience show combines authentic horse-starting and working dog demonstrations, live music, horse riding trickery and humorous bush tales. We provide a unique window into life on the land, showcasing and celebrating the Australian outback.
We are based in Katherine, Northern Territory from April to the end of October and hit the road touring from November to March.
Tom Curtain began his horse training and music career in the Northern Territory in 2001, working first in the stock camp at Heytesbury Beef’s Mt Sanford Station. Here he worked with the station's horse breaker and musician Martin Oakes, who recognised Tom’s passion for all things musical and encouraged him to pick up a guitar and start writing songs about his experience in the Territory.
This humble beginning led to the release of the award winning album ‘Smack Bang!’, the title song which stayed at the top of the Australian Country Music Charts for several weeks. During this time Tom decided to go out on his own, doing contract horse breaking throughout the Territory in order to continue his love of working with horses and the pastoral industry while still being able to continue his song writing and singing.
In 2005 Tom moved to Kingaroy, Queensland to further his music career and establish a horse training business on his property. After touring extensively throughout Australia with Sara Storer, the Sunny Cowgirls and other leading Australian Country Music Artists, and releasing his second album ‘Heatwave’, Tom decided to focus on building his horse training business with his young family.
It was only a matter of time before the Northern Territory lured him back to Katherine, where he continued to train horses with Riverboyne Horse Breaking and Training.
Being a tourist mecca during the dry season, Katherine provided the perfect platform to showcase station life by sharing Tom's extensive knowledge of the pastoral industry and combining his passions of training horses and dogs with performing live music. Since its launch in July 2013, Katherine Outback Experience has grown from strength to strength and is now one of the highest rated experiences in the Top End - described by guests as a must do attraction! Katherine Outback Experience won the best Tourist Attraction and best Visitor Experience Awards at the 2018 Northern Territory Tourism Awards before taking home bronze at the Australian Tourism Awards.
If this wasn't enough, Tom released his third album 'Territory Time' in November 2017 that debuted at No.1 on the Australian iTunes Country Music Charts and climbed to No.8 on the Australian iTunes All Genres Charts. The first single, 'Never Never Land,' a duet with 9x Golden Guitar winner Luke O'Shea, went on to win two Golden Guitars at the 2018 Tamworth Country Music Festival for CMC Video Clip of the Year and Toyota Heritage Song of the Year while Tom won 2018 Australian Independent Country Music Artist of the Year, Male Vocalist, Album and Single of the Year.
