Australia's country music capital is to have its very own Commemorative bronze statue of Smoky Dawson in Peel Street, the heart of Tamworth. The commission has been given to Australian Sculptor Tanya Bartlett from Shortland, who was also involved in the Light Horse Memorial in Tamworth and the statue of Don Bradman in Bowral.

Herbert Henry Dawson, affectionately known to country music lovers as “Smoky Dawson” was born in Collingwood, Victoria on March 19, 1913. After spending his early years in an orphanage in Warrnambool, he tried rough riding, cycle racing and practicing music. In 1934, he formed a Western group and toured Australia. His band the South Sea Island Boys ushered him into the world of hillbilly music, yodeling and radio. Dawson served with the Australian army's Entertainment Unit during World War II, using his talent to cheer and comfort the country's servicemen. After the war, he married “Aunty June” (real name Florence “Dot” Cheers) whom he had met at radio station 3KZ where she had a children's program. An elocution teacher, broadcaster, radio actress, producer and drama coach, Dot had founded the Melbourne program “Carols by Candlelight” to raise funds for children who were polio victims. Together, they formed an inseparable duo that supported each other's career all through the years.

Dawson jumped into recording sessions and went on tour, at times with Stan Gill's Rodeo, yodeling, cracking whips, whirling the lasso, trick shooting and throwing knives. He acted in films, wrote songs and sang them and became a star on the stage, radio and television. Smoky and Dot travelled to the USA in 1952 to perform at the Grand Ole Opry, in Nashville, Tennessee at the invitation of their close friends American country music legends Roy Acuff and Wesley Rose. Turning down an opportunity to become a Nashville star, Smoky and Dot returned to Australia. Upon his return, Dawson started his radio show “The Adventures of Smoky Dawson” patterned after that of Roy Rogers in the USA and earning for him the sobriquet of Australia's first singing cowboy. The show ran for ten years over 69 stations in Australia, and Smoky became the hero of countless children throughout the country, thrilling them with his heroics. In the meantime, Dot continued with her children's programs.

In 1978, Dawson was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire for his contributions to country music. In 1983, he was named to the Australian Country Music Roll of Renown. Smoky and Dot became the first Life Members of the Country Music Association of Australia.

In 1988, Smoky, with Trevor Knight, won the Heritage Golden Guitar. The Next year, the pair followed up by winning a second Golden Guitar. Dawson was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2005, the same year in which he released his last album making him the oldest recording artist in the world.

During his life, Dawson was an active Mason and Rotarian. He supported the Children's Hospital Bear Cottage Foundation, the Stockman's Hall of Fame, to which he donated his first electric guitar, and the Australian Country Music Foundation. His home the Smoky Dawson ranch in the Sydney suburb of Ingleside which was sold to the HASG Armenian School now sports a Smoky Dawson ranch-style gate which has become a tourist attraction.