News from Annette & Kim

Hi Folks

Well, it’s been an interesting start to the new year. We hope it has found you all happy and healthy and ready for an exciting 2010.

To bring you up to date on what we have been up to so far this year we had a great afternoon at the Kawakawa Vintage Railway concert on the 31st of January. A variety of entertainers performed for a very appreciative audience on an extremely hot day, it was a scorcher. Annette and I donated part of our cd sales to the Railway Restoration Fund so thank you to all those who supported us and the great work that the team up there is doing to preserve a very important part of Northlands history. Thank you also to Shirley May for organizing the day and inviting us to perform.

Due to circumstances beyond our control we could not fulfil our first gig of the year at the Dargaville RSA on the 12th of February so we apologise to everyone that missed us. We would like to thank Peter and Carleen Still for standing in for us at such short notice it was much appreciated. We are sure everyone would have enjoyed their company and made them feel at home. We did make to the Whangarei RSA on the 19th though and everyone seemed to have a great night especially an awesome couple from Whakatane who googled us before they came up to see who we were and what type of music we played. Friday the 26th saw us at the Paeroa RSA for the first time ever entertaining the locals. We had a great response to our music and hope to get back there in the near future. On the Saturday we went to listen to the Cream of the Country Awards auditions in Morrinsville for a couple of hours before Annette had to head back to Whangarei. Congratulations to Leeanne and Jan on their success in the awards, Jan was winner in the Gospel section and together they won the duo section and were runner-up to the Overall Winner our good friend Hayley Smith. Big congrats. To you to Hayley.

I stayed on in Te Aroha with Molly and Jim, Annette’s Aunty and Uncle, to do a guest spot at the Te Aroha club on the Sunday. What an awesome turn out they had, as usual. Always enjoy visiting Te Aroha everyone is so supportive. We really do appreciate it. Thank you to Myrie and the committee for inviting us down.

We are getting ready for the BOI Festival at the moment. The band is as keen as and looking forward to playing. I will definitely be at the festival and Annette may be there Saturday or Sunday. The week prior to the festival Annette and Alex will be in Canberra at a Boccia tournament, The Aussie Nationals I think. So we will be playing it by ear.

There are still places available on our Norfolk Island Tour and we would love to have you join us for an awesome week of country music and relaxation. It runs from 15th – 22nd May. So give us a call or download the brouchure off the web site.

Wow, we are into March already. Don’t know where the year is going, but it’s looking good lots of engagements coming in will tell you about those as they come up. We will also up date our “SHOW” page so you are able to see if we will be in a town near you.

Take care and Keep it Country

Annette and Kim

November/December 2009

Hi Folks,

Well, it has been a great year . Wow, 2009 has just flown by. We are getting ready for the Christmas break and would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous 2010. We feel we have achieved quite a bit this year and are looking forward to greater things in 2010 and hope you all will be a part of our journey. We have one more gig to do for the folks at Dargaville RSA on the 18th Dec. before the end of the year and are really looking forward to finishing off the year with them.

So, everyone take care, drive safely and have an awesome holiday. We will catch you in the new year.

Best Wishes

Annette and Kim

October 2009

Hi Folks,

October was a fairly quiet month for us performance wise most of our time was spent organizing the concert at the Kamo Club. We basically arranged every aspect of the show from organizing posters and tickets, arranging advertising, getting sponsorship ( for which we would like to say a big thank you to Dicksons Transport and Quarries, Wards Music Works, Magic Music and Big River fm for their support ), contacting guest artists and making sure everything was in place for the band and the sound men to making sure everything was in place for the audience.

Here’s how the show went.

Annette Hawkins “I’m Still Here” Hometown cd Release Concert 11th October 2009

Wow!!! What a turn out for Annette’s concert. Our aim was to fill the Kamo Club to its maximum allowable limit that was with fingers crossed. We are both so amazed and humbled by the support that we received from all our friends and fans.We are truly grateful to have so many people who enjoy our music.A great day was had by all. We feel very sorry for those of you who missed out but we just couldn’t let any more people in. Robin Lilley did an excellent job of MCing the afternoon. We would like to thank our band, Ian, Tiny, Richard and Andrew for backing us, Dennis and Craig for the great work on sound, you certainly know when you have talented peoplemixing sound, and our guest artists. We kicked the show off with the band and I doing some classic country. I started with “Folsom Prison Blues” which we have a great arrangement for Ian starts with a couple of instrumental verses and then we up the key for me to come in. We followed this up with “ El Paso City” a classic Marty Robbins tune and then for something different I donned a pink jacket and white tie to sing “Heartbreak Hotel”, thought I could do better than the utube version, not sure if I did though. Then our very talented lead guitarist finished the set with one of my favourite pieces of music, Fleetwood Mac’s “Albatross” he sure can play. Our first guest was Tutjana Wiremu who impressed the audience with a variety of modern and traditional songs. Everyone enjoyed “ Blue Smoke” and her renditions of “Travelin’ Soldier “,” Independence Day”and “Jesus Take The Wheel”. It was easy to see why she is the 2009 NZCMA Junior Entertainer of the Year. Her grandfather Wakina then took to the stage and with his own smooth style entertained us with “Life Turned Her That Way”, the Dwight Yoakem classic “I Sang Dixie” and the Dennis Marsh song “Too Many Memories”. Wakina is the 2009 NZCMA Veteran Entertainer of the Year. Wakina and Tutjana are the first grandfather and granddaughter to hold these awards in the same year.

Then we were on to the main event with Annette performing songs from her new cd “ I’m Still Here” to very appreciative audience. She began with an old favourite “Silver Threads and Golden Needles” and followed that up with a mixture of old and new which included Patsy Clines “ Movin’ Along” Jim Reeves’ “Guilty”the original songs “Shadow of My Heart” and the title track “I’m Still Here” and the Kathy Matea song “Every Little Thing”.

Our sales and marketing manager, Loie, did a sterling job on cd sales which we must thank her for. As well as everyone who assisted on the door with tickets and raffles. That’s Cynthia, Adam, Alex and Jo. The raffles raised over $500 for the Boccia Nationals so we must say a big thank you to everyone who bought raffles on the day.

The second half of the show was no less exciting our guest pedal steel player, Andrew Paterson, had the audience in stitches with his jokes and in awe with his steel playing. His set included “Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain”, “Your Cheatin’ Heart”, “San Antonio” and a vocal rendition ofNed Millers“From A Jack To A King”. I chipped in with a couple of original songs I have been working on “Mist on the Mountains” and “Tonight She’ll Go Back To Him” I really enjoy singing these songs with this band. Plus a couple of country standards “Is It Cold In Here” from my album and George Straits “The Fireman”.

The Show was finished off by Annette and myself performing a few numbers from our duo cd plus a couple of extras we have been learning such as “The Remember Song” and “Try A Little Kindness. Annette also included an audience sing along with “One Day At A Time” and we ended with one that always gets the audience going “Wake Up And Smell The Whiskey”. That was before we got an encore,can you believe that, well I couldn’t, from a fantastic audience so we finally ended the day with “Boot Scootin’ Boogie”. And everyone went home happy but tired and a bunch of flowers for mum.

We hope everyone enjoyed the day. I know the band did they are looking forward to the next one. Perhaps we will consider it.

Take Care

Annette and Kim

September 2009

Hi Folks

Well, sorry it’s been so long. But we have been waiting for work to be completed on our website which will enable us to update information ourselves and also to put our music on itunes or amazon so that people can download it if we chose to go that way.

Since our last news update quite a few things have been happening. I will try to recall them all in chronological  order as best I can. In April we performed at the Annual Mobile Home Convention in Kaikohe. A massive turn out of nearly 1000 mobile homes with only a couple of fire call outs while we were singing. A huge marquee was set up for the Easter convention with dance floor and seating plus a huge stage.

In May our band was all set to go for the Paihia Festival and what a great time we all had. It was so nice to perform with a live band and the crowds were very enthusiastic and appreciative. We must thank Ian, Tiny and Richard for all their hard work, dedication to the cause and awesome talents. They really made us look and sound good. Thanks guys. Also thanks to Richard and Susan for the breakfast on Sunday and to Loie , Tinys partner, for being our sales and marketing manager for the weekend. She did a roaring trade with our cds.

Also in May we took another tour group to Norfolk Island for the country music festival. I have included the run down of the tour which I wrote for the club news letter at the end of this article.

June saw us playing for the Kamo Club Dance Section Birthday for another year. Always a pleasure to entertain these guys they really enjoy their dancing.

In July we were invited to do a guest spot for Tutjana and Wagon Wiremu.They organized a great concert to raise funds for their trip to Entertainer in October to held in Rotorua. Tutjana is an entrant in the junior section and Wagon, her grandfather, is an entrant in the veterans section. They had an awesome line up of guests including Marion Burns, Ray Solomon ,Chris Powley and Hannah Cosgrove just to name a few. Tutjana was one of the guest artists to perform on Norfolk Island this year. She is a fabulous singer.

Waitemata invited us back to their birthday concerts again this year which was held in August at the Playhouse Theatre in Glen Eden. What a great little venue this is. The word is that they were more successful than the previous years shows so that was a buzz for us considering we were the guest artist last year as well. It was great to see the crowd come back to see us. Thank you to the Waitemata club for their wonderful hospitality.

Coming up in October I am off  to the Entertainer on the 3rd to sing my original song “Tonight She’ll Go Back To Him” which won the original song section at the Auckland awards in July.

On the 11th of October we are having a concert at the Kamo Club to release Annettes new cd “I’m Still Here” we are calling it the “Hometown cd Release Concert”. We have some awesome guests appearing and will be backed by our band from Paihia. Tickets are $10-00 and children 15 and under are free. Its going to be a great show so don’t miss it tickets are limited.

We have had some other exciting things going on as well since our last update. Our album “Something Between Us” made the top three finalists in the “Best Country Album 2009” section of the Tui awards which was won by Tami Neilson of Auckland. We also made the top three finalists in the Kiwi Pro-am National Country Music Awards “Best Duo/Group 2009” section which was won by the Topp Twins.

Following on from “Wake Up And Smell The Whiskey” reaching NUMBER ONE on the European Country Music Assoc. Radio Chart Top 100 the song Chattahoochee also from our duo album has reached number 19 on the same chart. Plus we have been nominated as a TOP FIVE finalist in the European Country Music Association Awards “Best Vocal Collaboration of the Year” and “Best Duo of the Year” sections. So we will keep you posted on the results. We must thank Ross Allen of Hillcrest Music for selecting the songs which have done so well for us in Europe. We are just blown away.

At present we are organizing next years tour to the Norfolk Island Country Music Festival which will be held from the 15th – 22nd of May 2010 and are looking for registrations of interest. So if you love country music and South Pacific islands give us a call and we send you one of our flyers. We would love to have you join us.

Finally, we would like to thank everyone for their continued support it is very much appreciated. As I say at the many shows we perform at it is our pleasure and privilege to share our music with you. And to anyone from the South Island reading this especially our friends and supporters in Nelson and Dunedin we look forward to seeing you all in the near future.

Best Wishes and Keep it Country

Annette and Kim

 

ANNETTE AND KIM NORFOLK ISLAND COUNTRY MUSIC FESTIVAL TOUR 2009

Well, we had another great week at the Norfolk Island Country Music Festival. Our group flew out on Saturday the 23rd May and arrived in Norfolk safe and well and ready to enjoy the week. Which started with a night of music at the RSL with the Norfolk Island Band and guests Dennis Marsh, Brendan Dugan and myself. Annette was unable to sing due to contractual arrangements. Everyone had a great night especially Des and Sharon Fatt from our group who won the raffle which consisted of about 24 bottles of wine and spirits and about 2 dozen beers. That set them up nicely for the rest of the week by the end of which they were giving the stuff away. Sunday night saw us join Dennis’ and Brendan’s groups for a progressive dinner which culminated in dessert and a sing along.A very tiring way to start the week so everyone needed to pace themselves.

Monday saw the festival begin proper with the NZ showcase an excellent night with guests Tutjana Wiremu, Laura Thompson, Johnny and Chet O’Connell, Chris Powley, Suzanne Lynch and MC Joy Adams. Tutjana , Chris, Johnny and Chet being the stand outs of this show.

Tuesday had the Australians playing with Canadian Danny Mack  and the ever popular Adam Harvey entertaining along with an all girl group whose name escapes me at the moment. A good show but not as good as the kiwis I thought.

Wednesday night came and that was the Trans-Tasman competition. All the singers performed well and it was a close run competition with Kristal Collins from Mount Compass South Australia coming out the winner. Hayley Smith Neil MacKenzie-Hall and Keinan Ngapo did the Kiwis proud. All sang exceptionally well as did our very own Annette Hawkins who wowed the crowd with her half hour show that included some of the songs from her new album I’m Still Here which she released at the festival to some very appreciative fans.

In between all this our group was having a great time on the island enjoy a game of mini golf and a Walk in the Wild with a fantastic lunch laid on by the Travel Centre Team. Wine and Cheese and a chat with our good friend Brent Hattersley a descendant of the Bounty Mutineer Fletcher Christian.We also enjoyed a Half Day tour of the island a Coffee Plantation tour, had my first coffee in about twenty years, don’t think I’ll be changing back to it though, and a Fish Fry on the cliff tops at Puppies Point watching a beautiful Norfolk Island sunset.

Then it was time to return home,but not before getting together for a farewell dinner at the Seaworld Restaurant and one last hurrah at the Lets Party Night where all the guest artist performed a couple of songs each. Once again Chris Powley showing his diversity by doing an Elvis impersonation with all the gear i.e. authentic jump suit, sunglasses and all the moves no doubt.

Then it was off home.Our group leaving us on Saturday the 31st Dennis Marsh leading us all in a Waiata for the Norfolk Island folk before the flight left.

We had an awesome bunch of people with us again this year and may we say it was a pleasure to be their hosts on the tour. We wish everyone of them the very best.

Annette and Kim

Hi Folks,

Well, it has been a fairly quiet March. Annette was one of the guest artists at the Opotiki Charity Concerts along with Laura Downing, Graeme McCardle and Marian Burns. Sounds like she had a great time with everything laid on by Mike Butterworth and his great support team.

Early March saw us playing at the Kamo Club Dance Section 9th Birthday. Always a pleasure to play for these guys they really enjoy their dancing. We will be there a couple more times later in the year.

We also had our first practise with the guys who will be backing us at the Bay of Islands Festival. Things are coming together pretty well we had a great day with Ian Anderson on lead guitar, Brendon Heathcote on bass and Richard Pinny on drums. Both Annette and I are looking forward to the festival as these guys are awesome to work with.

To top the month off we found out that the song “Wake Up and Smell the Whiskey” had reached number 1 on the ECMA Radio Chart Top 100. How cool is that!!!! We have our fingers crossed that something big will flow from this. Maybe a tour or something we will have to brush up on our foreign languages.

Looking ahead to April. On the 5th I will be heading to Kerepehi for the Kiwi Magic Fundraiser. This will be a great day of country music with some awesome talent performing.Then on Thursday the 9th we will be kicking off the Mobile Home Convention. Which is being held near Kaikohe this year.We have met quite a few mobile homers on our travels and they also enjoy their country music .So this should be an awesome night as well.

We are still organising our tour to Norfolk Island and things are coming together quite nicely.This will be an excellent week of country music with some fun activities organized. So don’t miss out on your chance to come with us. Talk to you next month.Keep it country and take care.

All the Best and Keep it Country

Annette and Kim