Year So Far Update – 2021

Hi Folks

Most of you will be keeping up to date with what we have been doing through our Facebook page which Annette does an amazing job of keeping current. But we thought we would bring our Web page up to date as well and cover some of the shows we have done since January. So here goes.

January 2nd and 3rd – Annette was invited to perform at the Wai – Worri Country Muster held on Phil Godfrey’s property at Aranga a little settlement just north of Dargaville. And an awesome spot it is at that. This year the festival was supporting “Kids with Arthritis” charity. Other artists performing along with Annette were; festival convenor herself Carleen Stll, Dave Ewart Jr, Wendy Maree and Entranzet (Tracey- Maree and Nick Houia). Backing bands for the weekend were “The Wai Worri Band” Ray, Ted, Bruce and Dan and “The Tradesmen” John, Robin, Kevin and Bob. Mostly fantastic sunny weather was enjoyed by the appreciative audience with the odd shower of rain making an appearance. A great weekend had by all that attended. A fantastic job done by Carleen and Phil and their team of volunteers to make the festival the success that it is and raising nearly five and a half thousand dollars for the charity. Congratulations to Wayne and June Alderton on winning the Yamaha acoustic guitar kindly donated by the team at Wards Music Whangarei.

Saturday 23rd January saw us at the Kamo club entertaining. Not often we get a Saturday gig here, so nice for a change. Great to have family supporting us on the night. Check out the video of Aunty June dancing to “Living Next Door To Alice” she’s 90 don’t you know. Awesome time had with our friends at the club and our roadie Alex Dickson along for the night just for good measure.

February 26th we made our first appearance of the year at Whangarei RSA. Another great night entertaining familiar faces. Thanks to our regular supporters Yvonne, Donna, Jo, Carol and Alex. A large crowd always stays until the end dancing the night away. Hope to be back there soon.

We had a great night Saturday 13th March with the Towai community enjoying the America’s Cup finals on the large screen and providing entertainment at the Towai Hall for them after a day of games and good food. Fantastic day and evening had by all at this amazing community.

The following weekend 19th – 21st March we were in Dunedin at the Tairei Bowling Club as guests of the Silver Peaks Country Music Club performing for their annual Hoe Down. Glad to be there finally in 2021 as the 2020 event was cancelled due to COVID. What an amazingly run weekend, special thanks to Margaret Webster, her committee and volunteers working behind the scenes. Brilliant team work putting everything together. Thank you to our hosts Francis and Graeme Partridge for opening their home to us and for your hospitality, much appreciated. Thanks also to Kevin for the taxi service and to Steven and Bill on sound for the weekend. Friday night we were entertained by the very talented duo Melissa and the Doctor ( Melissa Partridge and Hyram Ballard). Also great to catch up with Marie Haslemore, Kelvin Cummings and his lovely wife Marie and Bevan Gardener New Zealand’s very own John Denver.

Thoroughly enjoyed sitting back and listening to the talent through out the day with walk ups and the afternoon concerts were a delight. Great to see the youth concert well supported with the young ones keeping it country. Can’t forget young Austin, Melissa’s son, for entertaining us and keeping Kim occupied making and testing paper Planes throughout the weekend. Will catch up again one day Austin.

You never know who you are going to run into while away and wouldn’t you know it there were Allan and Audrey Lappin from Whangarei having a great time while travelling around the South Island in their Motorhome , lovely to see them. Allan and Audrey have joined us a couple of times on our Norfolk Island tours. Also lovely to catch up with Trish and Anita Dyer whom Annette had the pleasure of meeting on the Kevin Greaves USA Tour, Ngarita Carter from Balclutha and Faye Spittle from Crowell. Great to see you all again.

The friendships gained from these events are always a blessing. Thank you all for making us feel so welcome. Hope to catch up again soon.

Wednesday 7th April saw us entertaining at the Kamo Club for the Kamo Club Dance Section’s 21st birthday celebrations. What a great achievement, the dance section has been going just a little bit longer than Annette and I have been singing together. We have had the pleasure of being invited to entertain at many of their birthday celebrations over the years. Such a good crew to entertain for and we have made many friendships during those years. Congratulations Denise and John, Margaret, Ann, Pauline and Kevin, Wayne and June, Yvonne, Donna, Jo, Sally and Ray, Christine and Gary, Neville and all the dance section members. We have loved watching you all dance to our music over the years.

April 24th We had the pleasure of participating in Joy Adams’ StarBuddy Charitable Trust fundraiser show and dance held at the Te Kowhai Hall on Saturday night.
What is StarBuddy? StarBuddy Charitable Trust is a unique fundraising concept set up to support Charities, Schools, and Organisations working directly with children dealing with disabilities, severe illness, and special needs. To date over $30,000 has been raised by Joy and her team and distributed to worthy recipients.
We were joined by some of New Zealand’s finest Country entertainers including Joy herself. With the fabulous backing band consisting of Keith Willis (Bass), Robert Antonio (Drums), Derek Evans (Rhythm), Lance Murch (Lead) and performing an outstanding rendition of “Guitar Boogie” during the night, Joe Martin (Steel) and Carylann Martin (Keyboards and Accordion) as well as performing a number of songs. The very large audience was treated to a night of outstanding performances and danced the night away (including Annette & Kim) to tunes from John de Burgh, Craig Robertson, Dennis August, Gail Russell and  NZCMA Youth Ambassador Anna Tukuiologa.
There was a huge array of raffles to be won which included Dollars, Groceries, Dolls and Wooden Toys, Appliance Pack, Picnic Pack, Orchids, Flax and Flowers, CD/DVD pack and many more.

A big thank you to all the volunteers that support Joy to make shows such as this possible. Ray Fletcher (Sound), Brin Hitchens (Lighting) all those that helped out with meals and selling raffles, those taking tickets at the door and all those people helping with setting up and packing away chairs,tables and gear. There would be no show without your invaluable assistance. An amazingly delicious supper was enjoyed by all, thank you everyone for your contributions. From ourselves a big thank you to Yvonne and Peter and David and Louise for the accommodation and hospitality. Much appreciated and look forward to seeing you all again sometime in the future.
Keep and eye out for more of Joy’s StarBuddy shows you won’t be disappointed. Thank you Joy for inviting us to perform. We had a blast.

May 7,8,9th Bay of Islands Country Rock Festival.

An exciting time for us especially since last year’s festival had to cancelled. It was also a chance to get back with “The Mountain Mist Band” and play some country music together. We are so blessed to have these guys playing for us and with just a couple of practices under our belts it felt like old times. Along with Richard Pinny on Drums, Andrew Paterson on Pedal Steel, Tiny Heathcote on Bass we had a new member Ivan Hoete on Lead Guitar joining us for the weekend. We thank all these guys for their time, dedication and musicianship it is very much appreciated. It is a pleasure to share the stage with you all.

We had four great shows during the weekend beginning with the Paihia Sports Bar on Friday night with a great crowd in attendance ready to enjoy a weekend of country music from some of the best acts in New Zealand country music. The line up for Friday night was Te Whanau, Carleen and Her Crew, Reg McTaggert, The Karen Davy Band, Jamie Ham, Maria’s Hot Property and Rica Chez. Great way to kick off the weekend.

Saturday we had two shows one at the Ex- Servicemen’s Club and then the Kingsgate Autolodge both to good sized audiences. It was also great to catch up with so many friends in country music who we haven’t seen for so long, Sally and Brian Burgess, the Te Paa family, the Murray family, the Hantler family, Craig and Donna Robertson, Michael and Ashley Tipping, Bevan Gardener, Dan Cosgrove, Kylie Austin, Tracey-Maree and Nick Houia, Raymond and Esther Solomon, Carylann Martin, the Greaves family, Aly Cook, Mike McCarthy just to name a few.

Following the Friday night gig we had an awesome meal at the Thai Restaurant “Greens” with our good friends Des and Sharon Fatt, Yvonne Palmer and Donna Dodds. So nice to just chill out with good friends and good food. Then Saturday morning we were up earlyish and out for a lovely breakfast at Zane Greys with Annette’s nephews AJ and Alex Dickson. AJ had kindly offered to accompany his older brother Alex to the festival for the day.

Our final show on Sunday evening was at the Scenic Hotel so we didn’t have to travel far as we were staying at the Scenic just a short walk across the court yard to the stage. A big thank you to the management of the Scenic for offering accommodation to the artists. It is very much appreciated.

Special thanks go to Shirley May and her team for putting together another fabulous line up of entertainers and all the hard work that goes on behind the scenes to put the festival together.

Thank you to our friends Yvonne Palmer and Lynette Porter for the videos and awesome photos taken during the festival.

Hope to see everyone again next year.

And that folks is about where we are at so far. Coming up we have a few private gigs, the 50th anniversary of the NZCMA in Rotorua on the 5th of June and the Branded Te Aroha festival in October.

Take care and remember to keep it country.

Best wishes

Annette and Kim