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
