Hunter's golden girls Lyn Bowtell and Kirsty Lee Akers make an impression at Hands of Fame

Literally. Their hand impressions joined 300 others at the Hands of Fame cornerstone on Kable Avenue in Tamworth on Wednesday.

The Golden Guitar winners - Akers grew up in Kurri Kurri and now lives at Wangi Wangi, while Bowtell lives at Greta - were inducted into the Australian Country Music Hands of Fame alongside Luke O'Shea, Roo Arcus, Dennis "Fibber" Parker and John Elliott.

"One of the first places I ever visited in Tamworth, as a 14-year-old kid full of dreams, was the Hands of Fame park," Bowtell said.

"I remember comparing hand sizes with artists that had come before me, the artists I looked up to, and wondering if I'd ever fit the mould.

"It's humbling and a great honour to know that my own hand prints will now sit alongside those of my heroes. Thank you, Tamworth; my younger self and I are over the moon."

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As well as being a multiple Golden Guitar winner, Bowtell won Star Maker in 1997, having graduated from what was then known as the College of Country Music. She is now the creative director of The CMAA Academy of Country Music, where she has advised and mentored hundreds of emerging artists.

She recently released Woman to Woman, the second single from her upcoming album Wiser, due for release on May 13. She is performing at Lizotte's on May 12.

Akers said it was "an incredible honour" to be inducted into the Australian Country Music Hands Of Fame. She released the album Wild last week through her own label, Rider Records.

"I have been attending the Tamworth Country Music Festival my whole life, and as a kid I would place my hands inside my favourite artists' hands in the park, and my parents would tell me one day my hands would also be there," she said.

"To be included and acknowledged among the artists I looked up to as a kid is a very humbling feeling and something I feel very honoured to be a part of."

- This story first appeared on the Newcastle Herald