ABC Radio’s new DIG COUNTRY channel officially launches today.

Fans of country music will be able to access a wide selection of high quality music 24 hours a day.

DIG COUNTRY will include “a phenomenal range of country music styles, ranging from traditional through to bluegrass, western swing, honky tonk, country folk and alternative country. There will be plenty of great Australian country music artists in the mix.”

Music on DIG COUNTRY comes in a high-quality broadband stream from abc.net.au/dig.

DIG COUNTRY will be officially launched today at the Vanguard Hotel at Newtown in Sydney.

Grammy Award winning country artist and broadcaster, Lucky Oceans, will launch DIG COUNTRY, followed by a special performance from The Flood.

Entry to the gig is free and the Sydney public are encouraged to come along, as ABC Radio National is recording the performance for Live On Stage. Listeners will be able to hear the concert again later on demand at the DIG COUNTRY website.

DIG COUNTRY has been running quietly for the past month or so and, already, the audience reaction has been described as “overwhelmingly positive.”

DIG COUNTRY joins DIG JAZZ and the DIG main channel in offering “a diverse mix of great sounds – ranging from blues, soul, country, roots, world music, jazz, rock and lots in between.”

The DIG and DIG JAZZ channels are also available via digital television, set top boxes and Foxtel digital (cable and satellite). The DIG website (abc.net.au/dig) has been consistently receiving more than 200 000 accesses a week in 2005.