Hi Folks

Not much on during August and September 2 big events that I will tell you about shortly. We have had the chance to spend some time sourcing new material and organizing our gigs for next year. We will once again be at the Marton festival in January and will be doing a show in Wanganui on the way down if things work out, hopefully they will. We will keep you posted on any developments. We are also organizing our trip to the Barham Stampede in February which will include gigs in Kyabram and Horsham so we will be away for a couple of weeks. We are really looking forward to catching up with all our Aussie friends and seeing a little more of Victoria. The State that is.

But getting back to August 2014. On the 15th and 16th we were in Hamilton for the Kiwi Pro-Am National Country Music Awards. Friday night was the nominee’s night where all the category nominees got to meet one another and also to perform.

Saturday night was the awards concert that included the Legends Award which was presented to Pat Dugan. The Horizon award nominees got to perform also. This year’s nominees were Cam Luxton, Daniel Cosgrove and Sarah Conlan. Congratulations to Cam Luxton for taking out the award and to Sarah Conlan for being awarded the DAG scholarship for Songwriting. Congratulations to all the category winners Kaylee Bell and Tami Nielson joint winner’s Female artist, Phil Doublet Male artist and Into the East Duo/Group, well done everyone. The show was M.Ced by Kylie Austin with performances by Lesley Nia Nia, Howie Morrison Trio, Pat and Brendon Dugan, Cameron Scott 2013 Horizon winner and Australian country artist Morgan Evans. All artists were ably supported by backing band Tightazz with BVs by Echo n Harmony.

On the 20th of September we were back in Hamilton at the Hamilton bowling club to support Joy Adams with the launch of her charitable trust “StarBuddy”. A great night was had by all with everyone supporting the launch by buying the StarBuddy cd, tee shirts and making donations to the trust.

A big thank you to all those that turned out on a very bleak night weather wise and to all those that have helped Joy with setting up the Trust, supplying tracks for the cd, helping with organizing the launch and for supporting Joy in such worthy cause.

The band for the night was led by Renny Hantler with Lance Murch on Lead, Alan Dennis drums, Tony Crighton bass and Joe Martin pedal steel they did an awesome job. There were also performances by Renny and Jenny Hantler, Linda Innes, Joe Martin and Dennis Marsh plus ourselves of course. Thank you also to Peter and Sandy from Alcamo Motel for the accommodation it was very much appreciated.

Don’t forget our concert in Te Awamutu on the 15th of November at the Bible Chapel. We will have our band with us so it’s going to be a great night. Tickets are available now and are selling fast. Thank you to Val and ray Thurgood for their support and help in making this concert possible. We look forward to seeing you all on the night.

That’s about it for now so take care and keep it country.

Best wishes

Annette and Kim

Hi Folks

On the 14th of June we travelled to Te Awamutu to perform on Val and ray Thurgoods 100th charity concert. These awesome people deserve a medal for the years of dedication and hard work they have given to raising money for numerous charities and of course to NZ country music. This year the concert was in support of prostate cancer and with around 600 people turning out on the night Val and Ray and their wonderful team of helpers raised $7000-00. Well done everyone. The show was headlined by Dennis August with support from an aray of artists which included Kitten, Joy Adams, Carleen Still, Nancy Muller, Jocelyn Kilpatrick, Murray McPherson, Lew Jones, Rien Vanderschantz, westie, Steve Burns and of course Annette and Kim. We must also thank the backing band for their excellent work on the night John – Lead guitar, Margaret – rhythm, Alan – Drums, Kevin – Bass, Harold – Pedal Steel and making a special appearance Internationally renouned Pedal steel player Joe Martin. Also a big thank you to Warwick on sound and video. The Bible Chapel is such a great venue and even though this was Val and Ray’s last concert we hope that we will be able to perform there again in the future. I am sure that I speak for all the artists that have been involved with Val and ray over the years in saying that we have appreciated their support and the professionalism in which they run their shows and the way in which they look after the artists. Thank you. I know that they get a lot of support from the local businesses which is also appreciated . It was also great to meet Rae and Peter Mutch. Peter’s mother and my grandfather were brother and sister which makes us cousins. Always nice to catch up with family.

On the 27th of June we made a welcome return to the Whangarei RSA. It was great to see everyone out supporting us as we always look forward to performing in our home town. We had a great night and look forward to seeing you all again on the 7th of November.

The main event for July was our concert at the Kamo club. A lot of planning had gone in to making sure everything was right for the day. We were pretty sure we had everything covered except for the number of people that may show up. We were so humbled to have around 300 people support us we were blown away by you all. Thank you so much. Being the official release of our new CD “Try a Little Kindness” it was great to see a number of the song sponsors attending as without them recording the album would not have been possible. It was really nice to see Linda and Graeme McCardle come all the way up from Helensville we felt very privileged. I first met Graeme in 1989 at my first Entertainer of the Year Awards and we have been friends ever since. Long time country music supporter and past president of the NZCMA, Richard Tahu, also attended the concert which made us feel very privileged as well. We had an awesome day and we hope everyone enjoyed themselves. We owe a lot to The Mountain Mist Band who continue to support and encourage us on our country music journey. They were a real hit with the audience. Thanks guys.There are a couple of people we need to thank for making the day run smoothly. Susan Marsh for advertising, Alan Martin cd sales, Joanna and Loie door sales, Barry and Sonia Rabarts video and photos and Dennis Pabirowski and his son Brandon on sound. All in all a fantastic day of country music if I do say so myself. And once again it was nice to meet some more cousins from Blenhiem, John and Jackie Herkt. John’s father ,Doug, and my father were first cousins.

Congratulations to the winners of the Boccia clubs $50-00 note raflles, Viv and Kim, and to Carol Burdon and Michael Scutt the winners of the lucky door prize. We hope to see you all again soon in the not too distant future. Check out our web page to see if we will be at a venue near you.

For those of you that are interested our 2015 Norfolk Island Country Music Festival Tour package is now available. This will be our 8th tour and if the previous seven are anything to go by it will be another magical week on Norfolk Island enjoying the sights of this beautiful South Pacific island and the sounds of fantastic country music. So check out our web page or contact us and we will get a package to you.

On a personal note Annette and I would like to send our love and best wishes to Linda and Graeme McCardle and also Denise and Roger Tibbs our very good friends in country music.

That’s it for now. Once again take care and keep it country.

Best Wishes
Annette and Kim