Rowdy’s Rose country music duo wins Best New Artist, eyes six more US awards

Rowdy's Rose, aka Rosie and Blair Shaw, were recently crowned Best New Artist 2024 at the HUGS Radio Awards Pennsylvania.

Hot on the heels of a big win at the Hugs Radio Awards Pennsylvania, Waikato country music duo Rowdy’s Rose has scooped up another half-a-dozen nominations.

Rowdy’s Rose, aka husband and wife team Rosie and Blair Shaw, of Te Awamutu, were crowned Best New Artist 2024 at the Hugs Awards, but now, they have been nominated for six awards at the Who’s Hoo Country Music Awards in Columbus, Indiana.

“Both of these stations have had independent artists go on to be signed by major labels in the US,” Rosie said.

“So, we are honoured to be included in this calibre of talent.

“We have been included in the top 30 for months and months and supported by this amazing station for a long time.”

The third annual edition of the Who’s Hoo awards will take place on November 22-23 and is presented by Night Owl Country Band together with the International Singer-Songwriter Association.

Their nomination categories are Songwriter of the Year, Band of the Year, Country Rising Star 2024, Male Vocalist of the Year, Female Vocalist of the Year and Song of the Year 2024.

Travelling around the US with their two boys, Rosie and Blair performed in Pennsylvania and had three Nashville shows in October.

“We are back in the land of the long white cloud – Aotearoa New Zealand, on our front porch with our first 10 US dollars that we earned in tips from playing music in America”, a Rowdy’s Rose Facebook post on Friday said.

“All feeling pretty surreal right now knowing we won an award for our music in USA on radio and made some amazing connections on our trip through America ending in Nashville.

“Feeling very lucky and thinking about how we can continue to level up every single day – the future is looking very bright.”

In September, Rowdy’s Rose supported multi-award-winning New Zealand artist, Jason Kerrison for a benefit concert to get them to America.

Other 2024 accolades include being named as NewTracks Artists for June by NZ on Air Music as well as featuring on New Zealand and overseas radio stations.

They recently featured at No 3 with their new single Shooting Star on the Top 100 Kiwi Music Chart CFM and No 8 on the Hugs Radio Top 200 (USA).

Find more information via the Rowdy’s Rose website.

Jesse Wood is a multimedia journalist based in Te Awamutu. He joined the Te Awamutu Courier and NZME in 2020.