Christchurch duo Delaney Davidson and Marlon Williams are double winners of the New Zealand Country Music Awards announced as part of the Gold Guitar festival in Gore last night (Thursday May 30).

The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand and theAustralasian Performing Right Association have both acknowledged Delaney and Marlon's acclaimed album ‘Sad But True - The Secret History of Country Music Songwriting Vol. 1'.

The recording has gained the RIANZ Best Country Album Tui while the single ‘Bloodletter' is awarded theAPRA Best Country Song 2013.

Best Country Album

‘Sad But True' is Delaney and Marlon's debut outing as a duo and has been praised for seamlessly harmonising the young ‘clean' voice of Marlon Williams with the ‘darker' vocals of Delaney Davidson.

Marlon Williams, of the band The Unfaithful Ways, is in his early 20s while Delaney Davidson has been performing as a solo artist throughout Europe and the US since the early 2000s.

The union of experience and youth has seen the pair create an album that has received top star reviews across both music and mainstream publications with the New Zealand Herald dubbing the collaboration as "seamless" and a "heady concoction of truth-seeking".

RIANZ managing director, Chris Caddick, congratulates Delaney and Marlon on their win

"Well done to Delaney and Marlon on their richly deserved Tui for the album ‘Sad But True'. Their take on a classic American art form is brilliantly executed and a real joy to listen to."

Best Country Song

Delaney Davidson is no stranger to the APRA Best Country Song accolade, having won the award last year for his ballad "You're A Loser".

This year, Delaney is honoured with collaborator Marlon Williams for the hit "Bloodletter". With its mix of blues-tones, gothic country vocals and honky-tonic piano, "Bloodletter" is regarded by critics as a ‘highlight' of the album.

Anthony Healey, APRA's Director of NZ Operations, says the double win for Delaney and Marlon stands them in good stead for future collaborations and celebrates both their accomplishments as a duo and their individual successes as country music artists.

"It's a special song off a special album and a collaboration that is obviously a success. Long may that continue", Healey says.

The other two finalists for the RIANZ Country Album of the Year Tui were Donna Dean for ‘Tyre Tracks and Broken Hearts' and The Eastern for ‘Hope and Wire'. The other finalists for APRA Best Country Song Award for 2013 were Jess Shanks for ‘Wait out the Winter' and Rob Joass for ‘Baggage'.