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See below for recent event updates: Lions Club Concert Invercargill Bay Of Islands Country Rock Festival Old Time Country Music - Christchurch Waimea Country Music 20 Year Anniversary Country Music Cabaret - Hawera
Click here for Calgary Stampede and Canada trip - July 2008 |
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MARTON FESTIVAL – 15, 16 & 17 JANUARY 2010 With the weather being so changeable this summer and a very dodgy forecast for the weekend, everyone involved had really crossed their fingers and toes hoping things would be ok weatherwise. Marton is now an established annual event on the NZ country music calendar but the venue – Wilson Park is vulnerable to wet weather. As it turned out there was a little rain here and there but not enough to have an adverse effect. Again there was great support from the Motor Caravan Association people who turned up in great numbers determined to have a great weekend – as usual. The Napier band ‘Shotgun’ once again backed the main show on Saturday night where the main guest artist this year was Hermann Lammers Meyer from Germany. A thoroughly likeable guy who spends most of his time alternating between Germany and Nashville. With his easy listening style and personality he quickly earned the nickname ‘Herman the German’ around the other entertainers. The main show featured some different faces this year – namely Bruce Greaves, Karen Davy from Auckland and Joy Adams from Hamilton, Dusty Spittle from Otago, Rewa McGregor from Wellington and Terry Moratti from New Plymouth who brought their respective talents for everyone to hear. Other artists returning from last year included Alan Webster (Australia), Ann Pascoe and Oldogs, Trevor V Stevens, Kylie Austin, Sean Pawson and myself.
A bunch of us were housed this year at the Club Hotel in Marton and as sometimes happens a get together and jam session rolled into the small hours here after the show on Saturday night in the upstairs day – room. An ‘anything goes’ jam was kicked off by Bruce Greaves, quickly joined by Alan Webster, Karen Davy, myself and Hermann – Lots of fun was had by all. Sunday morning saw a sprinkling of Gospel music from the walk–up club singers and a final performance from the main entertainers who stayed over. And so another Marton Festival came to a close. Congratulations once again to Anne George and the team for producing another top weekend and on a personal note – sincere thanks to those who purchased CD’s and our new T Shirts. It was fantastic to see a whole lot of people wearing Roger Tibbs T Shirts around the venue. |
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ART DECO CONCERT NAPIER - 20 FEBRUARY 2010 We were looking forward to this one after the cracking show we had last year and once again a capacity crowd turned out. In fact it was a sold out show at the RSA and as many people again were turned away at the door. Ian Thomsens all acoustic band ( Ian Turbitt, Trish Salonius, and Marti Forrer) backed up once again this time with the addition of local identity Scotty Smith on mandolin. Sometimes it is a good thing to get away from the standard band composition and for this event the all acoustic format – Guitar, mandolin, fiddle, mouth harp and upright bass - without drums, works very well. The night was started by a couple of numbers from the band and they were followed by local artists – Brian Fairgreaves, Gloria Cameron, Ken Taylor (who also appeared last year), Yvonne Te Huia, and Adrienne Fletcher. A special thanks to Coral Atkins for putting on a great show once again. This is a very special weekend in Hawkes Bay celebrating Napiers Art Deco Heritage and it was wonderful to see the girls turn out in twenties regalia and the boys in corresponding outfits. A very good night and we were booked on the spot for the same show next year. Great to see our country music going down so well – long may it continue. |
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HOKONUI FESTIVAL GORE - 21 MARCH 2010 The Festival is now held in the Gore Town and Country Club venue as a result of the working committee coming to terms with the fact that the idyllic outside venue of Dolamore Park is just too subject to changeable weather conditions. I can vividly recall one year when I half froze to death waiting for my turn on stage – mind you, it is a bit closer to the Antarctic down there and those Southerners reckon they are tougher than the rest of us!! Joy Adams was also appearing there and it was excellent to catch up and work with her once again. Her songs of comedy and nostalgia are always a favourite with the crowd. We performed three sets each through Sunday. This is a great format for there is ample opportunity to present a wide variety of material and perhaps one or two that you might not normally do. Sometimes I really enjoy straying from my traditional country roots, so it was satisfying to slip in the rollicking Irish ‘Whiskey in the jar’ and include the odd dramatic number like Roy Orbisons’ ‘Communication Breakdown’. Necessarily I always have to include a few yodelling songs. These are part of what I do and I would probably end up ‘hung from the rafters’ should I ever leave them out. Peter Cairns’ very capable group ‘The Southeners’ backed up all day and made us and the local club singers sound as good as we all could. On sound was local identity Jeff Rae – very good to catch up and share a yarn or two with him also. An excellent weekend, very well run and organised by Colin and his hard working committee. A big thanks to them for looking after Joy and I with things like CD sales and meals etc – and the courtesy car, I was tempted to drive it home!! By the way we have T Shirts available now and it was wonderful to see people wearing ‘Roger Tibbs’ around all day – check the website. Thanks also to my dear friend Dorrie Milne for once again putting up with me. Beaut people – beaut weather – beaut weekend!!!! |
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| LIONS CLUB CHARITY CONCERT INVERCARGILL-
20 MARCH 2010
Down to Invercargill for an afternoon concert and back home the same evening – way to go. I was picked up at the airport and literally delivered to the stage at the Invercargill Working Mens Club while the concert was in progress - and dropped off at the airport for the first flight home, after a hurried but sumptuous meal in the club restaurant. I must mention the restaurant staff as this was the best prepared and presented meal I have had at any chartered club in the country. Pity I couldn’t stay a little longer. The concert was well presented with a top country band and featured some fine local talent including Maureen Calvert and Gore Gold Guitar Winner Ben Townley. I am always approached by many people after the shows these days that are passing the same or very similar comments – “how good it is to hear the ‘old’ songs”. I find this to be reassuring and in spite of trends I believe it will be a sad day if it comes to the point where the ‘cowboy’ no longer has a place in country music. There must remain a place for a traditional country song – presented well. My thanks to the Invercargill Lions Club and particularly to Judy Knoops and her hard working team. | ||
MATAMATA SPECTACULAR - MATAMATA – 27 MARCH 2010
My thanks to Rachel West in the first instance for getting me involved – this was a totally excellent show of international quality where every act brought something vibrant and different too the stage. Renny Hantlers’ band ‘Baccus’ was faultless and it was obvious to all how they enjoyed their music through the course of the evening with lead solos being shared between electric guitar and keyboards and with Mathew Hantler in particular laying down a rock solid platform on bass. As a singer things go so much better when the backing band is totally ‘together’ and you can concentrate on your singing. So good too to catch up with my friends Sharon Macyntire and Rosemary Hack (Mac ‘n’ Hack) – backing vocalists of world class who lend so much to any show. Brendon Ham and JamesRay teamed up to form the ‘Bourbon County Brothers’ and finished the first half with their rocking energy and contemporary style. Chet and Melissa O’Connell presented a very polished act - Chet is simply one of the best guitarists in NZ and fascinated the crowd with his light touch. Other acts – Vaughan Hawkins, Hayley Smith and Alicia Stewart all showcased their talents while I must single out young nine year old Georgia Baker-Trebilco – an extraordinary performer for one so young. The M.C. for the evening was none other than Ginette McDonald who I got to know on the plane going up and back – a great lady who had the crowd in stitches at times. For myself - my brand of country music is doing ok and I’m certain the audience left well satisfied. |
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NZMCA 54TH NATIONAL EASTER RALLY - HASTINGS – 2 APRIL 2010
After having done a couple of regional rallies in the past and knowing what a good bunch of people these motor homers– caravaners are, it was wonderful to be booked for their major annual rally/conference at the Hastings Showgrounds this year. With a thousand or so motor homers on site we were guaranteed a large audience – which packed into the marquee tent venue - the biggest tent I have ever seen!!! Graham McCardle from Auckland was also contracted and we split the show between us with any gaps filled out with Aroha Thompsons’ band ‘Findeen Time’. The band opened the show with three numbers after which Graham swung into his set and I finished off the first half. The second half was the same format as the first and Graham then came back onto the stage at the end to join me in a couple of final numbers. It was great fun to work with him again. The marquee tent was very long and relatively narrow with the stage necessarily positioned half way down one side and it was interesting to see many people moving to stand along the back wall opposite the stage during my second set in order to be closer to the stage. Also the fact that every seat was taken and everyone stayed right to the end is always indicative of a pretty good night. My thanks in the first instance to Rita and Ron Carswell who have done much promotional work on my behalf – thanks to all those who brought my CD’s and T Shirts and thanks to ‘Findeen Time’ who stepped up to a new level for the evening. |
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ARROWTOWN AUTUMN FESTIVAL - 21 APRIL 2010
The country music concert organised and run by local icon Reg McTaggart is just one event amongst a whole host of others that is made up of the Autumn Festival week in Arrowtown. Flying into Queenstown is always an adventure, particularly at this time of year with the blazing autumn colours that this area is famous for in full hue before the winter sets in. This year I was to share the stage with Joy Adams of Hamilton and pianist Trevor Dawe of Timaru – both of whom I have not performed with for quite some time. Trevor opened the show and wowed the audience with his unique style, finishing his set with his famous version of the ‘William Tell Overture’. A truly talented performer. Joy took the show to half time with her nostalgic numbers being very well received and her humour having the crowd in stitches at times. In fact, she was absolutely excellent! I completed the show with as large a variation of material as I could muster, backed by a polished local band including steel guitar player Peter Calvin from Invercargill. There’s just something very good about a steel guitar played well. One thing I have noticed here in the past and again on this occasion is that the cold and dry central Otago air can adversely affect the higher falsetto notes in a male voice and so I hope the local folks have forgiven me the odd higher note that was not quite as it should have been!!! I must make note of this for next time. Anyway I do believe the crowd left more than satisfied after a show of excellent quality and variation. We all stayed at Reg McTaggarts gracious Arrowtown home and flew out the next day on a picture – perfect postcard day up the length of the Southern Alps. |
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BAY OF ISLANDS COUNTRY ROCK FESTIVAL - 7, 8 & 9 MAY 2010
Once again the time had come for our yearly pilgrimage to the Bay Of Islands. We stayed with friends on Thursday night in Te Awamutu rather than face a twelve hour drive and a night show in one day (which we have done before – no fun at all). My Friday night show at The Copthorne tourist hotel went well enough in front of a full house considering that my band – ‘Cactus Jack’ and I had never played together before this gig! By the end of the festival on Sunday night we had all become very tight and I really look forward to working with this great group of guys again. Saturday morning is all about singing in the street and it is this part of the Paihia Festival that makes it unique with bands set up all round the town (for two hours) with crowds of people circulating and listening. I do this as a solo act and we take our P.A. and gear all the way to Paihia just for the street singing on Saturday and Sunday. This year it was immediately apparent that spectator numbers were up on last year and people were happier to dig into their pockets to buy CD’s. We had a red letter morning (which was surprising to us as we had no new product to sell) on the street and I’m sure other artists did also. My Saturday shows at the ‘Cruza Bar’ and ‘Copthorne’ once again were received very well with ‘Cactus Jack’ stepping up to a higher level at each show. These shows are run to a tight time frame with each act having just three quarters of an hour and in some cases just half an hour to get as much done as possible and we suffered to some extent with prior acts taking more than their allotted time span. This is something that management probably needs to deal with as it is quite unfair on others. Sunday saw some rain coming in off the sea and our street singing venue in front of the fire station was exposed so we cut things a little shorter here which didn’t really matter too much as we had such a good day on Saturday and I needed to get ready for an early afternoon show at the ‘Paihia Pacific Resort’ in any case. That show was really slick although I was conscious that my voice had done a lot of work over the three days. And so another festival was over. We usually try and get on the road on Sunday afternoon to get about half the journey home done before stopping for the night. Thanks to all those people who brought CD’s, even when we did not have a new one on offer this year. Thanks too to Shirley May and her had working crew for having me up there and continuing to produce the best country music festival in New Zealand – twenty one years old this year and getting better with each year that passes!! |
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OLD TIME COUNTRY MUSIC CONCERT - CHRISTCHURCH – 7 JUNE 2010 So good to catch up with our hosts Smokey and Lorraine Marshall who have done so much for country music in and around Christchurch for so many years. A really good crowd turned out for the afternoon show at the Richmond Club which was maybe a little surprising in view of the fact that it was a terrible Antarctic weekend (a good reason to stay home by the fire) but a good time was had by all, enjoying the sounds of many songs – ‘oldies but goodies’. Support artists for the day were Ernie Andrews and Danny McGirr, both still as popular as ever. Great to see that there is still a good following for the more traditional style of our country music. | ||
WAIMEA COUNTRY MUSIC CLUB TWENTY YEAR ANNIVERSAY CONCERT - 12 JUNE 2010 We have given our services to the Waimea Country Music Club on several occasions over the years in support of the Charities that are close to our own hearts and so had no hesitation in joining in the festive afternoon of their twentieth anniversary concert. It’s been a little while since we have been in Nelson and it was really nice to see so many friends, and catch up with them all. The Waimea Club seems to be in a really good state of health with a good mix of older and younger singers and a very capable backing band. Watch out for a young lass by the name of Arianne Baker – an exciting prospect and certainly one who will go far in the future. Good to catch up with club icon Mary Page who has helped me so much over the years with research and historical information on all things country music. Thanks to our hosts Margaret and Allan Higgs (and also allowing us to borrow your car Marg) for such an enjoyable weekend and thanks also to all those folks wishing us well on our upcoming tour to the USA! |
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COUNTRY CABARET FUNDRAISER - HAWERA - 3 JULY 2010 It has been too long since we have had a show in Taranaki so it was great to see that every seat in the house at the Hawera Bowling Club was full at showtime. This was our last real hit-out before our USA tour. This concert was put together by Nancy Muller and her hard working team as a fundraiser for the local country music club to purchase new sound equipment, so it had to be pleasing for them to see such a great turn out. The band was organised by Terry Fell and included Lin Wineera, Doug Brooks and Joe Martin on pedal steel. They did a great job. The line up included some of the local Taranaki talent such as Mark Corbett from 'Olddogs' showband and Terry Moratti from New Plymouth - both great performers in their own right. I kept my set leaning more toward the traditional style and this seemed to work well. We were hosted by Nancy and Lloyd Muller and stayed at their beautiful rural property overnight - very peaceful. Thanks so much Nancy. Let's do it again someday soon! |
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