Meet the singer from Coonamble who's wooing a new generation of country fans

Since the moment she was named 2022 Toyota Star Maker, the musician has achieved one milestone after another.

She went to Nashville, recorded an album or two, performed to huge crowds at festivals, was named 2024 Tamworth Country Music Ambassador and won the 2024 Golden Guitar award for New Talent, while also garnering a nomination for Female Artist of the Year.

Despite her growing success the nominations took her totally off guard.

"I was really surprised," Ms Jackson said.

"I hoped to get the new talent nomination because I got that one last year. But, when my name was read out, I thought, wait, do I react to that? Was that my name?

"As the people who have won that award or been nominated have been women, I have always looked up to them."

The singer-songwriter always felt like the odd one out when she moved from the country to the coast.

"None of my friends liked country music, or they thought it was the daggiest thing in the world," Ms Jackson said.

"I was a complete outsider."

But she knew she could always find her place in the world among the heaving crowds at the Tamworth Country Music Festival every summer.

"The whole town turns into the festival - it was a buzzing hub of everything I loved."

Australian country stars such as Lee Kernaghan, Gina Jeffreys and Troy Cassar-Daley were among the few musicians to tour Jackson's hometown of Coonamble.

Their songs formed the soundtrack to her early life, and kept her company when her family moved to Newcastle before she went to high school.

Decades later and her name is ranked among those legends.

Ms Jackson said it was sometimes surreal to be surrounded by her childhood idols, let alone count them as her mentors and friends.

"It's been so awesome to learn that the people I looked up to for such a long time are the great people I thought they were," she said.

"Every now and again I think, 'I was in the front row of your concert years ago'."

Ms Jackson will be in Dubbo in April for the Stock Route Country Music Festival.

The festival is returning to Lazy River Estate for its third year on Saturday, April 20.

Headlining are Dan Davidson from Canada and Australian icon Travis Collins.

Ms Jackson said she has always known the end goal, but wasn't really sure what the journey would look like.

"I saw all these opportunities come at a time when I was ready to grab them and run with them," she said.

"I don't think I could have foreseen everything that has happened, and I've sort of gone with the flow a bit."

So what makes Max stand out in a wave of up-and-coming talent?

Her social media for one thing.

Her TikTok account has amassed 16.9k followers and continues to grow.

Even turning her latest song, A Little More Country, into an online trend.

"I have really loved social media for the fact that I can use it in such a positive way to connect with people," she said.

"It is such a crazy thing to think that you have a phone in your hand that is a direct contact for people who love country music and a way to share music and spark joy."

She said she finds it extraordinary how, in just a few clicks, one of her posts can reach a worldwide audience.

And she said social media has allowed Australian country music to break more into the mainstream.

"It is such a cool time for country music in Australia. When I was growing up, country music was perceived really differently than it is now," she said.

"As people were just hearing what they thought country music was without realising how diverse it was, people are finding just how great country music is.

"People are falling in love with country music more and more every day."