Country music stars Troy Cassar-Daley and Adam Harvey have withdrawn their nominations for next month’s Golden Guitars, as a rift in the country music community deepens.

The Country Music Awards are held on the Australia Day Long Weekend in Tamworth and are run by the Country Music Association of Australia.

Earlier this week John Williamson quit as the association’s president, taking a parting shot at the awards for becoming too Americanised.

He mentioned Cassar-Daley and Harvey’s Great Country Songbook album, which includes covers of American songs.

The pair have issued a statement saying the debate about the album has fragmented an already-fragile music community.

They say Great Country Songbook has legitimately qualified in all six categories for which it is nominated, but they no longer want the album as part of the Country Music Awards.