Topp Twins hit the road for tour

The Buck Brothers are a new skit from Jools and Lynda Topp, who will be performing at Napier Municipal Theatre next Wednesday.

Jools Topp needs a minute - she's got her finger on a hole that requires drilling when I call.

Her horse float come tour bus needs some tinkering before the Topp Twins can call it home for the North Island leg of their Grand Ole Topp'ry tour.

"I'm just fixing it up, it's my own personal truck, so I don't have to go back to a motel room every night," she tells Vibe.

The best part of hitting the road with sister Lynda, apart from taking the stage every night, was digging around in some small town opportunity shops for costumes and the odd trinket to take home.

"There's one on every corner, Kiwis are mad keen about second-hand stores, just about every costume we ever had has come from one, that's the lovely thing about the characters we play.

"We are also collectors, I collect anything cowboy and for Lynda it's hunting and fishing - we always try to make it fun so it doesn't become a big grind, all work and no play makes Jool a dull girl."

The dynamic duo will be performing at Napier Municipal Theatre next Wednesday from 8pm with a few of their friends.

Some best loved skits such as Ken and Ken, Camp Mother and Camp Leader and the Bowling ladies, will make an appearance alongside new faces - Tammy Wire-Netting and country bumpkins, The Buck Brothers.

"Tammi is very glam with her dresses and big hair, while the brothers, based in Arkansas, are everything you fear about country music - taking it to the extreme."

Singing has been a 30-year love affair for the Topp's - sisters, silly-buggers and above all, entertainers - and now they have crammed all that history into one offering, combining love songs, political ballads and yodels.

The sisters have made a name for themselves singing a combination of all three, and selected their top 20 picks for a 'best of' album.

Hits such as Friday Night Get Up, Nga Iwi E, Honky Tonk Angel and the quintessential Topp Twins anthem Untouchable Girls all made the cut.

"The songs are our favourites from over the years, maybe not everyone elses' but for us each song relates to a time in our lives. People might think some of the greatest hits aren't in there but our last album sold pretty well, so we wanted to focus on some of the older stuff."

Some day Jools hoped they would be remembered as serious artists and songwriters, who did justice to the country genre.

"The songs are right for the characters, but we have never written a funny song in our lives it's the delivery that makes people laugh."

Putting their own spin on Nashville's Grand Ole Opry, audiences are treated to tunes from rockabilly to bluegrass, comedy and gospel, even a visitation by Country Music Hall of Famers, delivered with classic Topp Twins humour.

All of their characters - old and new will have some stage time during the concert which has been adapted to suit a modern audience.

"Gone are the days when you would get out there and play for 30 minutes, all the artists come out and do two to three songs, in between we do a character and then we all come together on stage. We have chosen the songs specifically to get the crowd singing along."

Joining them is Canadian-born Tami Neilson, who has opened for the likes of Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris, and picked up a New Zealand Music Tui Awards for Best Country Album three years in a row.

• Topp Twins take the stage at Napier Municipal Theatre next Wednesday. Tickets start from $75 (adult), available from ticketek.co.nz