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
