William Crighton rapt with industry recognition after winning his first ARIA Award

The Cessnock singer-songwriter won Best Blues & Roots Album for his third record Water and Dust, his first ARIA nomination and win.

"I'm not conscious of that other stuff, but it's fantastic when it pops up and I've realised that people in the industry are taking notice and that's a great feeling," Crighton told the Newcastle Herald.

"I certainly wasn't expecting to win. I had it pinned that someone else was, and it blew me away.

"To me it just feels like the start. I still feel like I'm just getting going."

For many in the wider music community and TV viewers of the ARIAs, Crighton's win might have appeared an overnight success.

However, for nearly two decades Crighton has been working to establish his place in the music industry. In his 20s he was known as Clint Crighton, as Clint is his Christian name (William is his middle name), and he played in indie duo Sound From Earth with his wife Julieanne.

After spending seven years in the USA and China, Crighton said his stint living in Burrinjuck in south-west NSW kick-started his transformation into the Australiana performer he's become.

"I was always chasing things and you're always trying to figure out what story you should tell as a person and we were travelling a lot and having different experiences and being led down different paths," he said.

"So it took a while for me to find my own voice and find the things that were important to me and what I wanted to put out as my art."

In 2016 Crighton released his acclaimed self-titled debut, followed by Empire in 2018 and the ARIA-Awarded Water and Dust in February.

Along the way Crighton has worked with Matt Sherrod (Crowded House), acclaimed didgeridoo player William Barton, drummer Rob Hirst and he toured Australia and Europe this year supporting Midnight Oil on their farewell tour.

However, the most important person in his success is his wife Julieanne, who he thanked first in his ARIAs acceptance speech.

"She's vital to the whole thing," he said. "We write songs together, perform together, we share life together.

"She would have been up there with me on stage, but she didn't want to come up."

Crighton was a rank outsider to win Best Blues & Roots Album against The Teskey Brothers, The Bamboos, Charlie Collins and ThornBird, Vikki Thorn of The Waifs' solo project.

"I didn't even know you could bet on it, but I bloke I know said he got on at $7.50 and had a good win. So good on him," Crighton laughed.