News from Annette & Kim

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.

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

Hi Folks

May has come around so quickly and the year seems to be racing by. Two of our main events fall in May.

Bay of Islands Festival

The first was the Bay of Island Country Rock Festival held on the 10^th, 11^th and 12^th. Once again we were supported by The Mountain Mist Band performing 4 shows during the weekend. The first at the Paihia Pacific followed by Haruru Falls on the Friday night and then one each Saturday and Sunday back at the Paihia Pacific and Haruru Falls respectively. The Saturday show being a shortened version of our Patsy and Jim tribute show. We also did the busking this year for the first time ever. Thank you to everyone that stopped and listened and bought cd’s and also to the line dancers that showed off their moves to our music on both days, that was awesome. We managed to catch up with old friends and we apologize to those that we could not get to see. Hopefully we will cross paths somewhere down the line. Before you realise it the weekend has gone by. Thank you to Shirley for inviting us to perform and all the motels that provided accommodation for the performers. Thank you to Richard, Ian, Tiny and Andrew for their continued support. We really do enjoy performing with you all. Thanks also to our good friend Dennis for being our busking sound man, even on a chilly Sunday morning after a long Saturday night. We look forward to next year’s festival.

Norfolk Island Festival

The following week was our trip to Norfolk Is for the 20^th anniversary of the Country Music Festival. We had a large and enthusiastic group of 39 people joining us this year for the celebrations. We had been planning this tour since last year so we were fairly well organised. Have a look at our photos.

Just to be on the safe side I went out to Annette’s place the Wednesday night before we flew out, that being the following Sunday, to pack our carry on bags and weigh them. That was all good so I said good night see you on Saturday and headed home. At around 12:00 o’clock that night I received a distressed phone call from Annette saying her passport had expired. Oh no. To cut a long story short, after a hectic Thursday that included a rushed trip to Auckland and back to drop off documents and photos, Annette was asked to return on Friday at 4:30pm to see if her passport would be ready. There were no guarantees. Annette and I duly did this and her new passport was ready. Crisis averted well done Annette. Now it was off to Norfolk.

What a great week we had on Norfolk celebrating 20 years of country music festivals. The Headliner for New Zealand was Dennis Marsh supported by Marion Burns, Kevin Greaves and 2012 Trans-Tasman EOY Hayley Smith. They put on an awesome show on the Monday night. This was followed on Tuesday night by an equally impressive show by the Australian Headliners, Adam Harvey and Beccy Cole supported by Amber Joy Poulton, Paul Costa and a special appearance by Libby O’Donovan. The backing bands were The Huckleberries with Echo ‘n’ Harmony providing bv’s for New Zealand and Australian band 4 Play. All the shows for the week were held in the marquee which was especially set up for the anniversary week. I am sure it brought back a lot of memories for a few people as the marquee was a regular sight at many of the previous festivals.

However, before the week commenced we had our regular welcome dinner, held this year at the Bowling Club, where everyone in the group could mix and mingle and get to know one another. We even managed to organize a group photo during all the merriment. From there the week continued with the half day tour to familiarize everyone with the island lay out. The following days were filled with the mini golf competition and Norfolk Island dvd and quiz( certainly some scholars in this group), Island Fish Fry, Traditional Dinner, which showcased some exceptional singing talent, RSL lunch and Annette and Kim concert and finally the Farewell Dinner held at the Heritage Hill Hotel Bar and Restaurant. In between all this a kiwi won the converted Trans-Tasman EOY 2013 Award, congratulations Kylie Ann Price. This young lady is an amazing singer/songwriter. Watch out for her. Also, Aussie 80’s band “Mental as Anything” performed for the local volunteers at the 20^th Birthday Celebration Night which they all thoroughly enjoyed.

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Unfortunately the week had to come to an end. I am sure everyone had a great time. Due to the enclimate weather we didn’t get to swim at Emily Bay but there’s always next year. We would like to thank Chrissy and Rebecca and the team at The Travel Centre for helping us put together such a wonderful Norfolk Island tour. You are all amazing to work with. Thank you also to Megan at Baunti Escapes for providing personalized tour activities for our group. We also totally recommend the ipod tours available through Baunti.    We look forward to seeing you all again next year. Once again thank you to our tour group for making our week on Norfolk so enjoyable as well. We look forward to seeing some if not all of you again next year to celebrate the 20^th year of the Trans-Tasman Entertainer of the Year Award. Until next time.

Take care and keep it country.

Annette and Kim

 

Hi Folks

WOW. Thank you to everyone that supported our Patsy Cline & Jim Reeves Tribute and Country show on Sunday. Close to 200 people were at the Kamo club to enjoy an afternoon of country music with us. The Mountain Mist Band kicked the show off with the Bob Wills tune San Antonio Rose a song covered by many artists including Patsy Cline and Jim Reeves. Annette and I continued on with our tribute show performing some of the most popular songs recorded by Patsy and Jim. From “Walking After Midnight” and “Mexican Joe” to “I Fall To Pieces” and “He’ll Have To Go” two of the most successful songs recorded by these two legends of country music. We hope it brought back lots of great memories for everyone in the audience. Patsy Cline has been a big influence on Annette’s singing career as has Jim Reeves for mine. We finished the tribute show with the duo “Have You Ever Been Lonely” a song engineered several years after the deaths of Patsy and Jim by their respective producers Owen Bradley and Chet Atkins.

The second half called for a costume change for us both as we would be performing a mixture of traditional, modern and original country music. The Mountain Mist Band once again got the 2^nd half going with a song called “Walkin’ The Dog” written and performed by our drummer, Richard Pinny, ably assisted by Derek on harp and Munta the dog on vocals as it were. You had to be there to believe it, great vocals, by Richard as well. We think Munta is on his way to stardom. Annette had to follow Munta and so beautifully with the classic Patsy Rigger song “Beautiful Lady”. As I said the 2^nd half was a mixture of traditional and modern country duos and solos which included “Sometimes I Don’t Remember Being Young At All” the song that won for me the 2011 NZCMA Songwriters Award, we also covered my original song “Now He’s a Drifter” a duo song Annette and I will be performing at the NZCMA Entertainer of the Year Awards in October, “Candy Kisses” the George Morgan number one country hit, two Everly Brothers songs “Silver Haired Daddy of Mine” and “Ebony Eyes”. The audience joined in on a medley of good old country songs and shortened versions of “Don’t Fence Me In” and “Cool Water” plus “I Heard The Bluebird Sing” and “My Elusive Dreams” two of the most popular songs from our duo album “Something Between Us”. We finished the show with another original “Before You Say Goodbye” awesomely played by the Mountain Mist Band. These guys did a fantastic  job and are so good to work with. Thank you so much Richard, Ian, Tiny and Andrew. They are probably the reason we received an encore and brought the curtain down on the show with a song which is dear to our hearts and one which we really enjoy performing “Try A Little Kindness”.

Speaking of kindness for their kindness we must thank Susan Pinny for helping out on door sales for the show, Debbie Paterson for looking after the raffle sales and also the drawing of the prizes, congratulations to all the winners, Loie Heathcote for making sure our cd sales table ran smoothly, Susan Marsh for flyer distribution, Dennis  Pabirowski for making it all sound professional and of course the Mountain Mist Band. Thank you all for your support. It made our job so much easier and we could concentrate on giving the audience a great show, which I think we did if some of the awesome comments we have been receiving are anything to go by. It certainly gives us the confidence to continue putting on shows like this. Watch this space for upcoming show in a town close to you.

All the best and keep it country.

Annette & Kim

Hi Folks

February began with the annual hoe down at Paparoa organized by Tiny and Loie Heathcote. This year everyone gathered at the Paparoa Hotel garden bar for an afternoon of country music. Thank you to Tiny and Loie for inviting us to perform on the day. We had an awesome time.

On Saturday the 9th we were at the Kamo club to entertain. It was great to have a 4 hour gig at Kamo with a good crowd in to enjoy the dance music. We were back at the Kamo club on the 6^th of March to celebrate the dance sections 13^th birthday. It is always enjoyable to perform for these guys as this has become a regular gig for us and one which we look forward to.

On the 9th> of March we made our first appearance at the Thames Country Music Festival. Our lead guitarist, Ian Anderson , made the trip down with us and we were ably supported by local muso’s Mack and Howie on bass and drums respectively. The weather was fantastic and the market day on Saturday morning was great and the whole weekend very enjoyable. We must thank Robert and Judy for looking after us. The accommodation was awesome at the Coastal Motel. It was great to catch up with old friends and the odd relative as well.

At present we are getting ready for our show at the Kamo club on the 7th April. The first half of the show will be a tribute to Patsy Cline and Jim Reeves followed by a second half of originals, modern and traditional country music. It kicks off at 1:00pm and runs until 3:30pm and will feature the Mountain Mist Band also. Tickets are available from the Kamo Club or Kim ph. 459 6657. There will also be door sales. We look forward to seeing you there.

We are also preparing for the Bay of Islands festival on the 10th, 11th and 12th> of May and seats are selling fast for our Norfolk Island tour. Remember this year is the 20th anniversary of the festival. If you would like to join us book your seat now. Contact either ourselves or Chrissy at The Travel Centre on Norfolk and let her know you would like to be part of the Annette and Kim tour group.>

Take care and keep it country

Annette and Kim

Hi Folks

Welcome to the New Year. We hope you all had a safe and happy festive season and are looking forward to the year ahead. January 18^th, 19^th, and 20th saw us on the road and heading down to Martin for their three day country music festival. The weather played its part during the day and we only encountered torrential rain on the trip down through the desert road on the Thursday and a hail storm on the Thursday night at the informal walk ups just when Annette and I were about to sing. Luckily that was not an omen for the rest of the weekend.

On arrival we found our accommodation and settled in. Anne George the festival convenor had the guest artists booked in at a Girl Guides Retreat named Anahira, check out the photos to get an idea, everyone had their own room with en suite and there was a communal lounge where everyone could gather to talk and sing or watch a movie or tv. We had two good sing-a -longs on the Friday and Saturday nights with some outstanding talent being shown by Roger Tibbs on guitar and Lance on steel.

The guest artists for the weekend were Noel Parlane, who now resides in Australia, Rosanna Ruddick also from Australia, Jenny Blackadder, New Zealand’s premier Banjo player, Roger Tibbs, internationally acclaimed country singer and yodeller, Joy Adams, also an internationally recognized country singer, Kylie Austin, Graeme McCardle, Ann Pascoe, local singer Terry Moratti, young Taranaki based up and comer Abby and yours truly Annette and Kim, the Whangarei based duo act.

Friday night and Saturday morning was the walk up concerts which everyone could participate in and on Saturday night was the guest artist’s concert where we each got to do a 15-20 min spot. As I said earlier the weather played its part and although it was a bit nippy the sun was out and all were having a great time. Around 300 caravans and mobile homers had turned up for the weekend and were getting their money’s worth.

Friday we wandered in to town to watch the buskers do their thing in the busking competition and to check out the P.A.s in use. This year we will be busking at the BOI festival for the very first time.

It was great to catch up with long lost friends and maybe we will see you all next year. We must thank Pheonix and Shotgun for backing all the singers and Sandy and Mandy for providing B.V.s over the weekend. Also thank you to Anne for inviting us to perform. We are looking forward to having Anne and her husband, Len, join us on our Norfolk Island tour in May. There are still seats available as Air New Zealand has laid on another flight. So let us know if you are interested in joining us also.

On the Sunday afternoon we followed Lloyd and Nancy Muller to their home just out of Hawera where they had invited us to stay for the night. They have an awesome home which sees the back garden looking out to Mt Taranaki. Next day we drove to New Plymouth for the TSB Festival of Lights show. WOW, what an awesome venue. The evening was beautifully clear and a great crowd came in the hear us perform. They brought their deck chairs and blankets and food and refreshments and settled in for a great night. Firstly with Kylie Austin performing her modern country set followed by Annette & Kim with a mixture of traditional and modern country music. We certainly look forward to appearing at the festival again in the future. After we had finished our show Lloyd and Nancy kindly showed us around the park to see the light displays. The photos don’t do it justice but will give you an idea of the extent that council goes to produce the light display.

Tuesday we were up at 6:00am to head home. We had a short stop in Te Kuiti for breakfast then over to Te Aroha to see Annette’s Uncle Jim and then headed home. All up we did over 1600kms and saw some beautiful New Zealand scenery.
That’s about all for now folks.

BUT we have a VERY IMPORTANT MESSAGE for you all. On Sunday the 7^th of April from 1:00pm until 3:30pm we will be putting on a country music show at the Kamo club. It will be called “The Patsy Cline & Jim Reeves Tribute and Country Show”. The first half of the show will feature Patsy Cline and Jim Reeves songs. Some will from our recent album “ Annette & Kim sing Patsy & Jim” followed in the second half of the show by some traditional, modern and original country songs. The show will also feature the very popular and talented “ Mountain Mist Band”. Posters will soon be out advertising the show and tickets will be available from the Kamo Club ph 09 435 1765 or Kim Copedo ph 09 459 6657. Tickets are $20-00 per person with under 15 years of age free. We would love to see you all there.

Take care and keep it country

Annette and Kim

Hi Folks

Christmas is just around the corner and the beginning of another year is on its way. We cannot believe how quickly 2012 has flown by. We have had a great year and thank you all for your continued support. Just to finish off the year we played at the Kamo club on Friday the 30^th November with a great turn out and plenty of dancing. We were also happily surprised by Des and Sharon Fatt who travelled over from Dargaville to catch up with us. On the following Wednesday we also played for the Kamo Club Dance Sections Xmas break up. This has become a regular gig for us and a most enjoyable one at that. A great night of fun and entertainment was had by all with plenty of dancing, awesome stuff every one. Our final gig for the year was a half hour spot at the summer show. Thank you to Tony and his team on the sound and to Malcolm and the committee for inviting us to perform. The weather played its part with a good number of people staying to watch. A couple of llamas even turned up to listen, very interesting that was.

We now look forward to 2013 and probably the main event being the 20^th anniversary of the Norfolk Island Country Music Festival in May. If you haven’t booked your ticket yet make sure you do. This will be another awesome week on Norfolk Island. Come and join us. Firstly though, January will see us in Marton on the 18^th, 19^th and 20^th for the Marton Country Music Festival and then in New Plymouth on Monday the 21^st for the TSB Bank Festival of Lights. We have an hour and a quarter spot to do in the evening from 8:45 ‘til’ 10:00pm. We are really looking forward to these two events so if you are in the area please come along and see us. We would love to catch up.

I will be in Kawakawa on the 27^th of January for the vintage railway fund raiser. I will be going solo as Annette has another engagement that weekend. This has been a regular event also and is a great afternoon of a variety of music and entertainment.

Last but not least we would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a safe and happy New Year and we look forward to seeing you all in 2013. Once again thank you so much for your support during 2012 it has been very much appreciated.

Take care and keep it country.

Best Wishes

Annette and Kim

Hi Folks

If you are reading this news letter then you are on our new look website. We would like to thank Karen from Northweb for all her work in designing the new site and also to Annette for all her hard work and time spent sourcing photos and adding captions and getting the links set up to itunes and the like so that people can download our songs and order our albums directly off the website.

To bring you all up to date on what we have been doing it was with sadness that we attended and performed at the memorial concert for our dear friend Cindy Poole on the 22^nd September. Cindy’s family put on an awesome show and it was a privilege to be asked to sing. Thank you Milly. Our condolences go out to David and to all of Cindy’s family and friends.

On the 29^th September Annette travelled to Rotorua  to M.C. the Entertainer of the Year Awards. She is becoming a real pro. at this having mced at the Norfolk Island Country Music Festival in 2011. We would like to congratulate Hayley Smith for once again taking out the senior title. Well done Hayley.

During October we celebrated with the Whangarei RSA women’s section on their 67^th birthday. A great afternoon was had by all. Our Mountain Mist Band bass player, Tiny Heathcote, also celebrated his 60^th birthday on the 13 October. We travelled to Paparoa to join Tiny and his extended family and friends to celebrate and sing a few songs and to enjoy an awesome birthday dinner.

On the 14^th October I was guest artist at the Onerahi Variety Club where everyone enjoyed a great afternoon of country music. On the 19^th we performed at the Whangarei RSA. It was a great turn out and apart from some issues with our new laptop, which Annette managed to sort out, we had an awesome night and look forward to being back in 2013. The following Sunday I went to Tauranga to sing at the New Zealand Country Music Star Awards. A song I had written, titled Now He’s a Drifter, made it through to the final of the original song section. It is a duo song but unfortunately Annette could not make it down so I performed it as a solo and was lucky enough to win the section. So Annette and I will be performing it at the 2013 E.O.Y. Congratulations to Hannah Cosgrove who was runner up. Hannah is a talented singer/songwriter who is writing some great country songs.

We have a few gigs coming up in November and December so will catch up with you all near the end of the year.

Take care and keep it country

Annette and Kim