“There are so many hits — Looking Out My Back Door, Have You Ever Seen The Rain, Proud Mary, Bad Moon Rising — everyone knows the words and we get the audience to howl at the moon after every song. It gets louder and louder. Last night’s audience in Tauranga went berserk. It was great — they were a very happy crowd.”
Creedence Clearwater Collective is a real-life travelling band made up of Aussie rockers hailing mostly from the Gold Coast in Queensland.
Tim said he picked the musicians based on their skill but also for their ability to have a good time.
“We’re having a blast. I’ve added saxophone and piano to the mix and there are videos for every song — high resolution footage that I have cut together.
“It’s more than just a band.”
Tim used to be the lead singer in a Cold Chisel show in Australia before he suffered a stroke and heart attack.
“When I finally got back to singing I didn’t want to sing so high. It’s much easier to sing a bit of John Fogerty. I’ve always sung the husky guys like Rod Stewart, Jimmy Barnes, ACDC.
“I thought everything was over for a while there but I learned to speak again and swallow. I had three years of singing barely a note.
“I had to relearn how to play the guitar. I learned how to play chords again and then I couldn’t keep time — it was bizarre and scary.
“It took six months of practice. I forced myself and didn’t give up.”
Two years ago, after making a full recovery, Tim gathered a group of like-minded musicians and created Creedence Clearwater Collective.
“It went so well and got so big, so quick, we didn’t have to stick to pubs anymore and moved to larger venues like performance centres.”
The group has just confirmed dates for the South Island next March and has Canada and the Philippines in their sights after that.
