October began with our trip to Rotorua for the NZCMA Entertainer of the Year Awards. I had three songs in the original song section representing the NZ Star Awards, Waikati Country Music Awards and the Auckland Country Music Awards. I had a solo and two duos to perform with Annette. They were “Not The Leavin’ Kind”,” Now He’s a Drifter “ and “That’s Your Shadow Comin’ Round”. We left on Thursday afternoon with our musical director, Alex, Annette’s nephew joining us. We made our way through to Waihi where we booked into a motel and settled down for the night. On Friday morning we headed for Rotorua and to an afternoon rehearsal with the awards band, The Huckleberries, lead by Mike McCarthy with b.v’s from Echo’n’Harmony. Which went very well. This was followed by a civic reception with the mayor of Rotorua, Kevin Winters, who officially welcomed everyone to the city and wished us all the best of luck.

Saturday morning we had a bit of time to check out the lake and to head up to the gondolas where I gave Alex a ride down the luge before heading back to the motel to get ready for the show.

I have been involved in a number of these awards since 1989 and I still get nervous. A good sized crowd were very enthusiastic and appreciative to all the contestants and guest artists. Suzanne Prentice still has an incredible voice and the show was MCed by well known country artist Kylie Austin. We would like to congratulate all the contestants and the winners and wish them the best of luck for the future.

Oh, and by the way my song “Not The Leavin’ Kind” won the original song section so I was very pleased as this would probably be the last time I would be entering the awards. Annette and I would like to thank Heather and her team for looking after us so well and for putting on such a great show. Over the years both Annette and I have enjoyed meeting and being supported by many people on the awards circuit who we consider our friends. We would like to thank you all and also wish you all the very best for the future. We hope to see you at one of our concerts or at one of the Country Music Festivals we will be performing at around New Zealand, Australia or maybe even the USA.

On the 9th of October we once again performed for the Whangarei RSA Women’s Section birthday celebrations. This will be their 69th year and we had a great afternoon of singing and story telling about our trip to America. Plus one or two raffles. If they have not tired of us we may see them all next year.

On the 12th of October we were booked to play for the Whangarei Golf club who had organized a country evening for their members and the general public which was right up our alley. Eric Adams from The Sound Cave set up a stage for us and also some lighting as well which was awesome. A large crowd enjoyed a full on evening and were dancing right up until we had to finish plus a couple of songs for the road for those that didn’t want the night to end. Thank you to everyone that came along we had a blast and we hope to do it again sometime.

The month of November we had put aside to do some recording for our new duo album. We have had two awesome days with Mike McCarthy down at Manuka Studios in Orewa recording the vocals and have only two songs left to do. We would like to thank those that have so far sponsored a song on the album. Without your generous support we would not have been able to commit to this project and we are very pleased with how it is coming along. Because of your generosity and kindness towards us we came to the conclusion that fittingly the title of the new CD should be “Annette & Kim Try A Little Kindness”. We hope you will enjoy the finished CD and know that you have had a major part in it. We still have about four songs left that require sponsorship so if you or you and some friends are interested in being a part of the album please contact us or check out our web page for details on how you can become involved in helping Annette and I record this new CD. Once again thank you all for your support it is very much appreciated.

Best wishes and keeping it country

Annette and Kim

Hi Folks

Besides our trip to America we have been busy doing other things since our last newsletter update. On the 2oth of July I was in Te Awamutu for Val and Ray Thurgoods charity concert raising funds for prostate cancer. What a great show it was with a variety of artists keeping an enthusiastic audience entertained. Thank you to John King the M.D. for allowing me to play in the band when they found out they would be short a rhythm guitarist. Thank you also to Val and Ray for inviting me to perform. We look forward to being a part of any future concerts you will be running.

On the 10th of August we travelled to New Plymouth to perform for the Merrilands Country Music Club. We flew from Whangarei to New Plymouth on the Saturday morning. Well, we eventually did after the cloud cover had lifted enough from Whangarei airport and they decided that they could take off. We arrived a little later than expected but all was good. Angela met us at the airport and delivered us to the Westend Bowling Club where David Nepia had set up the sound system for us and helped out with the sound check, very professional the whole set up, thanks David. Angela then took us around to Judith’s home where we would be staying. Judith was busy organizing the most amazing roast dinner for us and a few friends before our gig started. Once fed and water we were off to the venue. What a great night we had and a great weekend as well. Thank you to everyone that came along to support us. We look forward to returning sometime in the near future. Thank you to Angela, David, Judith and the committee for all your help and for a great weekend.

The 16th of August, for those that don’t know, is the anniversary of Elvis’ death and we were booked to play at the Whangarei RSA. We could not let the evening go by without a small tribute to the King. It was an awesome night and great to see lots of people joining in on the Elvis theme especially Bill and Francis in their jumpsuits and Chris in his best Elvis getup. Look out for the photos on our website.

Following our trip to America we were off to Morrinsville on the 20th of July for the Morrinsville Country Music Clubs’ 2013 Spectacular. We were one of a number of guest artists performing on the show with special guest and m.c. Suzanne Lynch from The Chicks fame in the 60’s and 70’s. It was a fantastic show to be a part of and featured a wide variety of country talent. This included, The Heartley’s from the South Island, a talented duo who are having great success in Australia, Craig Robertson, an amazing songwriter and also my cousin who has been on the Australasian country circuit for many years, Hayley and Ryan, a brother and sister act, and Chris Holmes who has a classic country voice both these acts have a great future in country music, Peter Williamson provided a touch of traditional country and Dan Cosgrove showed why he is going to be one of New Zealand’s top country guitarists. The Johnny’s are an all female Johnny Cash tribute band and provided great entertainment once you see them you will not forget them. The backing band for the show was Bacchus with musical direction from Renny Hantler. What an awesome band to perform with. So professional and very tight, thanks guys. Once again backing vocals were provided by two talented lady’s that we always look forward to working with Sharon McIntyre and Rose Marie Hack. Congratulations to Marilyn and her team for two great shows that were both sold out. Thank you for inviting us to perform, we had a blast, and thank you to everyone that supported the shows.

That’s all the catching up to do folks. October sees us off to Rotorua for the NZCMA Entertainer of the Year Awards. We will let you know how that went next time. Until then take care and keep it country.

Best Wishes

Annette and Kim

IOWA USA

On Friday 23^rd of August 2013 we set off on our journey to America to be inducted into America’s Old Time Country Music Hall of Fame. This would take place during the 38^th Annual National OldTime Country, Bluegrass and Folk Music Festival being held at the Plymouth County Fair Grounds in Le Mars Iowa. We flew out of Auckland at 6:00am heading for Chicago via Sydney and Los Angeles and finally arriving in Sioux City at 9:30pm Friday night, their time, which would have been approx. 20 hours flying. We were doing quite well until we got to Chicago where we kind of lost track of time and missed the final connecting flight to Sioux City (oops panic stations). However, the airline people were on to it and organized overnight accommodation for us and transferred us to a flight the next day. We telephoned the people that were going to be hosting us in Le Mars to explain the situation and looked forward to meeting them on our arrival. Saturday the 24^th we arrived at Sioux City Airport to be met by Marlene and Gary Gearke our hosts for the week of the festival. We collected our luggage which had arrived the previous day and headed to Marlene and Gary’s home situated on the outskirts of Le Mars. Any apprehensions we may have had were soon dispelled on meeting this wonderful couple. They made us both feel so welcome and looked after us so well during the week that it was hard to believe that we were 13000kms away from home. We were able to chill out for a couple of days and have a look around Le Mars, the ice cream capital of the world according to the makers of Blue Bunny ice cream, and get ready for the festival to begin.

We had over a dozen shows to perform during the weeklong festival which would include the presentation of our induction certificates and also the” International Classic Country CD of the Year 2013 Award” for our duo cd “Something Between Us” from the USA Rural Roots Music Commission which was an unexpected but pleasant surprise to us both.
The festival was fantastic. A little bit hot, 35 degrees and over 90% humidity for most of the week, and a little nerve racking to begin with but everyone was so friendly and received our music so well that we both began to feel very proud and very privileged to have been nominated by Anne George and to have decided to travel to Le Mars to be a part of this great tribute to traditional American country music many in the audience finding it hard to believe that two people from a little country on the other side of the world had been so influenced by their music.
Once we began to perform it just felt as though we were meant to be there and as I mentioned earlier the people were wonderful to us. In particular we would like to thank Rick and Harriette  Anderson, and Danny and Donna Dee who supported us on stage during the week and who gave their time so willingly. We were truly blessed to have them share their wonderful talents with us. Rick was always there to play harmonica for us with Danny orHarriette playing bass. We would also like to thank Lee Muller, a very good friend of Jenny Blackadder’s, for providing lead guitar work for us and also Jacob Austin a young man who played an awesome mandolin.

The festival also featured performances by Mickey Gilley, Barbara Fairchlid and Roy Morris, Joanne Cash and her husband Dr Harry Yates , Kenny Serrat and Terry Smith. The whole week went too quickly and before we knew it we were saying goodbye to so many wonderful new friends. We hope to see you all again soon; Bobby Awe, such a gentleman, Paul Martinez,Bill Lear, Jackie Shewey, Darrel Hamilton, Dale Eichor, Boxcar Bob and his good wife Brenda, Francis Hahn, Bill Hendren and Whats her name, Michael Thoma, Storm and Snow Seymour, The Austin family, the Wilburns, Larry Harms, David Green, JeremieFaga, Frank Tuma and all those that travelled so far to support the festival and welcomed us into their world of country music. As I said before we both felt very privileged and honoured to be a part of your festival.A big thank you to Bob and Sheila Everhart for organizing such a massive event and for giving us an open invitation to return to the festival when we are able to.

We also had to say goodbye to our kiwi friends Denise and Roger Tibbs. Roger was also performing at the festival and is doing a great job. He is very popular in the Midwest United States and is having a great time touring with Mary and Tex Schutz. Roger kindly invited us to sing with him during one of his spots which was a bit of a buzz for us. We definitely hope to catch up with Roger and Denise at the Marton Country Music Festival in January 2014.

Well, the festival had come to an end and so had our time in Le Mars. We spent Labor Day holiday with Marlene and Gary and their family enjoying a lovely home cooked meal. On Tuesday they drove us down to Sioux City where we hired a car to head off and see a little bit of Iowa before we headed home. It was a very sad moment to say the least. Saying goodbye, to Marlene and Gary, was a little difficult, they had made our stay with them so enjoyable that we do look forward very much to returning in the near future.

Once Gary had directed us to the right off ramp we were on our way, a quick stop at the information centre to gather maps and brochures, and a check that we were on the right side of the road. All was good. We had decided to make our way down to Anita, where the Hall of Fame was situated, and had arranged with Bob to meet him there on the Thursday before we flew home so we had a couple of days to tiki tour around. We thought we might head for the hills, the Loess Hills that is, and a place called Preparation Canyon State Park where some of the first pioneers had arrived and discovered the vast Iowa plains.Today most of the land is planted in either corn or soy beans as far as the eye can see. Once you get into the hills it is the most beautiful countryside. We had asked Gary about wild animals that we needed to be aware of in the area and he had told us that it was notuncommon to see coyote, deer, badgers, foxes,squirrels, raccoonsand the odd story of a Moose wandering down into Iowa in the past. We were on gravel roads checking out small town America. We made our way to Missouri Valley and then west to Desoto National Wild Life Refuge with a small detour over the Missouri river and into Blair Nebraska by mistake while looking for the entrance to the refuge. There is nothing like a hundred carriage train to divert your attention. We arrived at the refuge in the late afternoon and once we had taken in the museum we drove into the refuge itself. We were just at the right time to see the deer coming out to forage near the roadsides and also caught a glimpse of the tiniest of humming birds flitting around the flowers, which was amazing to see. The day was drawing to an end so we made our way to the interstate to head south and find a place to spend the night. We settled on a small town called Shelby. We checked into the motel before heading to the truck stop and diner for dinner. The following morning after breakfast at the truck stop we took photos of the bicycles of Shelby and the main street and made for our next stop, Winterset, the birth place of John Wayne and where the movie, ”The Bridges of Madison County”, was filmed starring Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood (Check out the photos on our website of this amazing town). We did the touristy things i.e. visited the house where John Wayne was born and the bronze statue where the museum is going to be built and also the many bridges of Madison County. There are 7 to be exact, including the stone bridge where they filmed the picnic scene. If you are ever in Winterset be sure to go to the Northside Café if only to sit on the same stool Clint Eastwood sat on in one of the scenes from the movie. We managed to see all the bridges bar one on the Wednesday so decided to check into a motel for the night and catch the final bridge the next day on our way over to Anita.
We arrived in Anita at approx. 11:00am Thursday and without realising it had pulled up right outside the Hall of Fame. I am not going to explain or try to describe everything Bob and Sheila have in the building. Bob did give us a tour which Annette videoed so we may have some of that on the web page in the future. Suffice to say Bob is a very knowledgeable man when it comes to traditional country music and the memorabilia that he has collected for the Hall of Fame. It was definitely worth all the travel just to visit with Bob and Sheila. We wish them all the best for the future and are proud to be members of the Hall of Fame.
Our trip was coming to an end and our final destination was Omaha, Nebraska. We arrived Thursday afternoon and once we checked into a motel again we drove into the city to look through the old market area and to have a nice meal at one of the market restaurants. Friday morning we were up early ready to find Omaha zoo or Sheplars western store whichever came first. It was Sheplars, and by the time we had finished looking through all the western gear there was little time left for the zoo. So instead we visited two locomotives gifted to Omaha city to celebrate Union Pacific’s 150^th anniversary. Check out the photos of the Big Boy steam engine and The Centennial Diesel locomotive on our web site also. From there we delivered our car back to the hire company and flew out of Omaha at 3:00pm Friday the 6^th September and via Dallas/Fort Worth and Brisbane Australia arrived back in Auckland at approx. 2:30pm Sunday the 8^th of September. What an awesome adventure.

Keeping it Country

Annette & Kim

Hi Folks
June has been a quiet month gig wise. On the 15 of June Annette and I were in Auckland at the Auckland Country Music Awards to perform one of my songs in the original song section which I am happy to say won the section.

Annette & Kim performing at the Auckland Awards in the Songwriters section. “That’s Your Shadow Coming Round” Written by Kim Copedo

So we will be singing the song at the Entertainer of the Year Awards in Rotorua on the 5^th of October along with the two other original songs that I have in the EOY. We had a great night at the RSA Whangarei on the 21^st with a good crowd out enjoying the music. We will be back at the RSA on the 16^th of August which is also the anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death.This is the week before we fly out to the USA.
“ANNETTE AND KIM OFF TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA”. Yes that’s correct folks we are off to America. We have been nominated to be inducted into the American Traditional Country Music Hall of Fame located in Anita Iowa USA. We have been nominated by our good friend Anne George, who organises the Marton Country Music Festival and is already a member of the Hall of Fame, and the nomination has been accepted. We are blown away and very excited. The Hall of Fame recognises people that are actively keeping traditional country music alive by performing, recording and promoting the traditional style of country music. The induction ceremony will take place at the annual Traditional Country Music Festival to be held in Le Mars Iowa from the 26^th of August until the 1^st of September. Take a look at:  http://www.ntcma.net/

What can we say? Thank you so much Anne for nominating us. We feel very humbled that you consider us worthy recipients of such a prestigious honour. We will be flying out on the 23^rd of August and will spend a week at the festival and then travel down to the town of Anita where the Hall of Fame is located. We are looking forward to meeting Bob and Sheila Everheart who are the conveners of this festival. We will have a look around do some sightseeing and then return home on the 8^th of September. Our good friends Roger & Denise Tibbs will be there also and we look forward to catching up there in Le Mars.

Cheers

Annette & Kim