APRA Best Song finalist in the New Zealand Country Music Awards. Photo / Sabin Holloway
For nine days, Gore is the centre of the country music universe in New Zealand. Paul Little on Tussock Country.
Nine days. The good Lord made the world in seven, but the amount of country music talent in New Zealand is so great that the national country music festival needs an extra 48 hours to pack everything in.
The annual celebration has been taking place in Gore for nearly half a century and this year it has been renamed Tussock Country. It's an umbrella label for everything that will be happening in the deep south town from May 29 to June 6.
It all leads up to not one but two national awards. The first is the New Zealand Country Music Awards, which used to be held as part of the annual Tui awards but were getting lost in the middle of all that pop and hip-hop and whatnot, so have been moved to Gore.
And there are the Gold Guitar awards, an amateur event attracting talent from all over the country. There are days of heats and the final is held on the last night of the festival. Inaugural winner in 1974 was Patsy Riggir, no less.
Splitting the events means you don't get polished professionals competing against someone who has been practising for years down the back paddock and is finally prepared to get up in front of an audience and give it a go.
Tami Neilson, a past winner and nominated again this year, has been a fan since she first played here 14 years ago.
The first time she went, she won an award. The next day, she was singing in a cafe where the audience included the Topp Twins. "It was the first time I'd seen them in person," says Neilson. "The Topp Twins were eating their cheese rolls and soup and, when they finished, they walked by and said, 'Good job, mate. Good on ya.' "
And that shows how Kiwi country this whole thing is. It lets you get the Topp Twins and cheese rolls in the same sentence.
Neilson loves it so much she didn't let a little thing like advanced pregnancy stop her attending. "One year I was being inducted into the Hands of Fame. I had to get a permission letter from my doctor to fly down because it was about three weeks until I was due. And I had a horrible realisation at the awards: if I go into labour, where is the hospital? Probably miles away in Invercargill. I had a little panic attack. But then I realised the room was full of farmers."
Jeff Rea is a performer, producer and songwriter and also chairman of the trust that runs the festival, with the help of a huge team of community volunteers. He nominates some stand-out events: "The New Zealand Country Music Awards is the red carpet night, with the Tui for the best country artist, and Apra country song of the year. That is the flagship night in terms of the professional part of the industry."
This year the festival has absorbed the Top Paddock Music Festival, which features a line-up of the best country performers. "Previously a new year's event, it will kick off the festival this year," says Rea.
All those volunteers who make the festival happen have day-jobs, which is one reason the event is held in the cold winter months, rather than summer, when more people might be expected to come. "The folks who run it will be run off their feet in the summer," says Neilson. "Winter is when nothing is happening on the farm, so this is when they can put their energies into a festival."
Which emphasises one vitally important point about the whole event, according to Neilson: "It is the music of these people. To me it's what real country music is about. It's not some hipster from Grey Lynn putting hay bales in his shiny pickup, singing to trap beats and calling it country. This is legit. These are farmers and ranchers running the festival on their down-time which is not a lot of down-times."
It has, of course, some distinctive features. "I have done concerts where the front row was all women knitting. They keep you humble. Everyone is so down-to-earth, so genuine and gracious and hospitable. It's a real community."
And they get all sorts here – even Aucklanders. Rea says there's a group of 95 making the trip south. Advance bookings have been good.
"Top Paddock looks like it will be a sell-out and the Country Music Awards are a sell-out. This year is probably unprecedented in terms of ticket sales."
Native son and regular attendee Mike Puru has been involved since childhood. "Mum used to take me to the Gold Guitars," says Puru. "I used to watch these people on the big stage and it gave me the bug to do stage stuff."
Puru has been a judge in the past. This year, "my job is to compere the Tuis on Thursday. Then the junior and ntermediate Gold Guitar finals on Saturday then the seniors on Sunday afternoon and then the actual Gold Guitar finals on Sunday night."
He recognises what a big deal the event is for everyone involved.
"Think of the country music clubs around the country - they all play on the first Tuesday of every month, and the reason they do that is to enter the Gold Guitars. They use that time to practise. On the night itself, you can go from fairly modern country to old-school. You can sometimes hear the oldies mumble when someone does a Kenny Rogers or Waylon Jennings number: 'Finally, some real country!' "
When he's not on stage, Puru is likely to be found in the audience. "I always check out the buskers. There's the Friday night Music Round-up, when all the pubs in Gore host country singers. Usually you'll find past award-winners and it is always free. You just turn up and watch these amazing acts. Previously, I've got in a minivan with a bunch of people and we've gone to as many performances as we can."
Neilson has her favourites too. "They have a competition called Freeze Ya Bits Off, when people busk all weekend in the freezing cold. They are literally standing next to each other, so you can have a couple of teenage girls in pink cowboy hats singing Dolly Parton next to a 70-year-old man in his cowboy hat singing to karaoke tracks of Marty Robbins. Then a full family band with choreography and drums."
The day after the festival – or pretty soon after that – work starts on the following year's event. Puru says the impact on the community can't be underestimated: "It's a yearly pilgrimage for a lot of people and it is a real stretch for the locals, but it's good for the town because all the accommodation gets booked out. And all the restaurants and cafes are humming. It is to Gore what the Fieldays are to Hamilton. I am definitely a fan."
tussockcountry.nz
Hokonui Ute Muster
A beauty contest for utes and a new event this year. Includes prizes for most immaculate and best-decorated ute. Also a best mullet contest. At GWD Toyota, May 29.
McDonough Contracting Gore Truck Show
Big rigs, bigger rigs, even bigger rigs. Various venues, June 5.
Gore Country Music Queen
Winner gets to go to Australia's Tamworth Country Music Festival (Covid permitting) Longford Function Centre, May 30.
Motorhomers Potluck dinner
Anyone with a motorhome and a meal is welcome to get together for a sharing experience at the A&P Showgrounds, May 31.
Hands of Fame
Pedal steel guitarist Paddy Long is this year's honoree. At the Gore Town and Country Stadium, June 6.
Aucklander Lata Visinia shares her journey after losing her husband James, 33, to cancer.