Hi Folks

We had four great gigs during February and March. On the 24th of February we were in Kawakawa for the Variety Charity Concert to raise funds for the Kawakawa Vintage Railway. Shirley May had once again organised a great lineup of artists to entertain a small but appreciative audience. These included BOI College Kapa Haka group with a rousing performance to kick things off, the multi talented Diane Brown, Roger McLean family string trio, vocalist Daniel Morrison, Jack and the Boys playing country rock and Jack Tane another well known entertainer around Whangarei and Northland. The show was held together once again by MC John Carter. A great day had by all for a very worthy cause. We wish Frank and his team the very best. They are doing a great job of keeping the history of Vintage Rail alive.

On the 6th of March we were at the Kamo club entertaining the Dance Section on their 19th birthday celebrations. Wow where did those years go. So next year will be the big “Two O”. Hope we get an invite to that one. Always great to play for these guys and watch some awesome dancing.

On Sunday 10th March we did something a little different and joined some of the Northland country music clubs for a day at the Towai Tavern. A selection of players and singers rolled up to enjoy the day and to be part of a fantastic day of country music. A big thank you to Dennis Pabirowski for supplying and operating the sound system for the day. A great day with great friends and great food supplied by Towai Tavern management and staff. This may become an annual event.

Finally in March we headed off to Thames to be a part of the 5th Thames Country Music Festival organised by my cousin Craig Robertson. We were appearing on the Saturday night Showcase but the festival kicked off on the Friday night with a welcome show and then the Friday night Showcase. Craig had a fantastic lineup of artists for the weekend and it was so nice to catch up with so many friends we had not seen for quite sometime. Great to see the Kamo contingent down to support the weekend as well. An awesome lineup of bands had been arranged for the weekend these included Craig and

43 Holes, Hired Gunz and Koltrain. Koltrain were our backing band for Saturday night and did an awesome job as did all the bands during the festival. It was such a pleasure to meet up again with the Te Paa boys Arbie, Richard and Chad and Robbie Katipa jnr amazing musicians and so talented. Festival goers were not disappointed. Some of the fantastic acts on display were; country legends Dennis Marsh and Brendan Dugan, NZCMA patron Dennis August, Coopers Run, Kylie Austin, Carleen Still, Grant Reha Timoti, Joy Adams, Te Whanau, Derek and Lynn Evans, Spellbound, Nelton and Faye, Debz Standen, Bruce Greaves, Peter Frew and of course the man himself Craig Robertson. Also a big thank you to Ted Viscovich and Peter Still on sound and Rolleston Motel for the accommodation. Very much appreciated.

And that was about it for February and March everyone. Hope to catch up with you all sometime somewhere along the road. To all those in the Auckland area we will be at the Henderson RSA on the 28th of June 7pm till 11pm. Before that we will be at the 30th Bay of Islands Country Rock Festival on Saturday and Sunday the 11th and 12th May with “The Mountain Mist Band”. Really looking forward to performing with Richard, Ian and Tiny again.

Until then remember to take care and to keep it country.

Best wishes

Annette and Kim

Hi folk

Happy New Year to you all. Here is a quick round up of our January gigs. The year commenced with two shows with our very good friend Allan Webster “Australia’s Country Gentleman” all the way from Millicent S.A.. Two fantastic shows one at the Kamo Club on Wednesday 9^th January and one at the Whangarei RSA on Friday 11^th January were both very well supported. It was great to so many people coming out so early in the year. It just goes to show that if you have good quality entertainment people will definitely support it. Which we appreciate very much. Thank you all we had a ball as I’m sure Allan did as well. It was also a special treat to be entertained be Maureen and Allan’s granddaughter, Melody, at both shows. Melody will be a force to be reckoned with in the years ahead in the entertainment industry. Once again thank you to the Kamo Club and the Whangarei RSA for allowing us to perform and to all those that travelled to the shows. We know some of the Mobile Homers did Wai Worri Festival and were heading to Marton for the festival down there. It was nice to see Maureen and Allan again and to be able to return the favour of arranging gigs as they so generously do for us when we are traveling around South Australia and Victoria. We look forward to catching up with them in July at the Barham Stampede. Can’t wait for that

On Friday the 18^th January we headed to Marton to appear at the Marton Country Music Festival. We missed the 2018 festival due to life. But we were glad to be back in sunny Marton to entertain the huge crowd that had turned out for the weekend. They weren’t disappointed as John and his team had gathered together an amazing group of artists to perform over the weekend.  These included Headliners New Zealand’s own Marian Burns and Noel Flynn all the way from the emerald isles Ireland. Noel  has a traditional country style which went down well with the appreciative crowd. Noel brought his wife Becky with him to experience the sights and sounds of New Zealand and its country music. Marian needs no introductions she is New Zealand’s fiddle player extraordinaire. And Annette and I were blessed to have Marian join us on stage to accompany us on two songs. Thank you soooo much Marian

We had a great weekend. Thank you to everyone that supported us by buying cds and coming over to chat. We heard some great stories over the weekend. Some we can’t repeat. It was great to catch up with so many friends especially Lloyd and Nancy from Hawera, Lorraine from Whangarei and Gail and Ngatoko Kupe from Fielding. It was so nice to see you all again. Also a big thank you to Beth and Andy Watson for providing us with accommodation over the weekend. What a beautiful home you have. Beth and Andy are very busy people. Andy of course is the Mayor of Marton and together they own “Spookers” in Auckland which is where Beth had to go for the weekend to work. Don’t worry Beth, Andy took care of us wonderfully. Hope to see you both next year.

Also taking to the stage were; Coopers Run, Kylie Austin, Joy Adams, Carylann, Jenni Smith, Gail Russell, Allan Dennis, Derek and Lynn Evans, Sharon Miller, Kevin and Kay Tappin, Twin Set, and Legal Tender to name just a few. Thanks to the backing bands for their hard during the weekend Los Bandas and Hired Gunz a great job. And let’s not forget Keith Murch for providing the sound. Thanks Keith

The weekend was finished off with the Sunday Gospel walk-ups and then general walk-ups  before finishing off with a rousing finale song lead by Marian and Noel

Thanks John for a great weekend. It looked as though it was a record turnout. Congratulations to all your support team as well. Fantastic job. Great music, great food and great friends what more could you want. We also send our well wishes to Ron Austin. Hope you are on the road to recovery Ron. Couldn’t imagine a country show without yourself and Pam there.

That’s about it folks. Our next festival will be in Thames on the 23^rd of March with my cousin Craig Robertson. Also hope to be at the Bay of Islands Country Rock Festival in May with “The Mountain Mist Band” and on Sunday the 24^th of February we will be at the annual Kawakawa Vintage Railway concert. Then on the 6^th of March we will be at the Kamo Club to celebrate the Dance Sections 19^th birthday. So look forward to seeing you at one of these gigs. Until then take care and remember to keep it country.

Best wishes
Annette & Kim