Singer/songwriter, diplomat and comedian Iain 'Fred' Smith is returning to Kiama's Folk By The Sea festival.
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Smith is a replacement for English folk singer Richard Grainger, who is unable to make the trip to Australia due to an illness in his family.
Canberra-based Smith was the Kiama festival's headline act two years ago.
Smith is known for his acclaimed album Dust of Uruzgan, released in 2010, and book of the same name.
Both detail his experiences as an Australian diplomat attached to the Australian Defence Force in Uruzgan Province in Afghanistan.
Smith is a career diplomat, and has been described as "Australia's secret weapon" in international diplomacy.
While in Afghanistan his guitar and songs served as a bridge not only to the troops, but also to the people and tribal leaders of that war-torn region.
His time there was chronicled on the ABC TV's Australian Story program.
In 2017, Smith released the album Great. The album includes a song about Donald Trump called What Could Go Wrong?
"Great is a collection of American ballads, story songs - some comic, some less so - offering my observations and accounts of American history, politics and pathologies," Smith said.
His latest album, Warries, is a "collection of songs from conflict zones that aren't on Dust of Uruzgan".
The 2019 Kiama festival is on September 27-29.
Smith will be performing three shows at Folk By The Sea - Friday at 7.30pm, Saturday at 12.15pm and Sunday at 12.45pm.
Early bird three-day tickets are on sale now for $90 via www.folkbythesea.com.au or by phoning 1300 887034.
The festival is presented by the Illawarra Folk Club.
Festival co-ordinator Rod Cork said they were disappointed that Grainger couldn't make it, but were thrilled that Smith is coming back to Kiama.
"He was the festival headline act two years ago, and people loved his performances.
"I am sure everyone will be pleased that he is returning.
"And having Fred Smith and Neil Murray on the same program means we can lay claim to having two of Australia's finest and most thoughtful singer-songwriters at our festival."