With 100% New Zealand music ‘Best Kept Kiwi Secrets’ not only provides music from some of our distinguished country artists like Brendan Dugan, Jodi Vaughan and The Warratahs but also a selection of our Kiwi Country Artists who are achieving great things off shore.
New Zealand has a fantastic new generation of Kiwi Country Artists who are very much ‘hidden talent’ in their own country as it is hard for the New Zealand public to hear them. With little outlet for recorded country music on commercial television and radio in New Zealand , the reach of country music from any country, for that matter, to the New Zealand general public is not great. However, there is a growing grass roots country music industry that is producing new music that tells our stories. These artists are gaining chart status as they are being played heavily on community and commercial radio alike in Australia as well as worldwide...
Yet they are New Zealand Music’s ‘Best Kept Kiwi Secrets’
This compilation album is about new audiences both in New Zealand and internationally discovering the beautiful country music made by Kiwi Country artists.
‘Best Kept Kiwi Secrets’ presents new young independent country pop artists from the south, the likes of Kaylee Bell, Jody Direen, Kayla Mahon, Kelvin Cummings, along with those who have flown wings such as Jackie Bristow, now based in the USA, with her beautiful country ballad ‘Warrior Spirit’. Add to this a duet with Opshop’s Jason Kerrison and Ex Kiwi FM ‘s Fleur Jack, who now is Fleur Wood with husband Wesley Wood in a duo called The W Lovers, with their track ‘Old Town’. ‘Sunshine Good Times’ seems an appropriate single for duo NeillyRich, Blenheim’s Matthew McNeilly and his Australian wife Amelia McNeilly, who are based in Sydney, who have been topping the ARIA charts and charts in Australia. Liam Kennedy-Clark, a new rising star, who spread his wings across the Tasman at 17 years of age, gives us his single ‘I Don’t Wanna Grow Up’.
Matt Joe Gow, an amazing Alt country artist hailing from Dunedin ft Katya Harrop gifts us with a stunning song ‘Flowers in your Hair’. Kevin Greaves who spent some 15 years in Nashville presents the perfect song ‘Daddy’s Radio’ interpreting the story of his kiwi country music pioneer father, the great Rusty Greaves who travelled from NZ to perform the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville 11 times. Add to this amazing lineup New Zealand recording artist, Aly Cook, whose album ‘Horseshoe Rodeo Hotel’ saw 5 number #1s on the Australian Top 40 Country Tracks airplay Chart, offers up her hit song ‘Western Line, which features the familiar fiddle of Nik Brown of the Warratahs and a guest vocal spot from Brendan Dugan who has also adds to the CD ‘Honky Tonk Heroes’ written by Kiwi Songwriting Piano legend Ritchie Pickett.
Husband & Wife 2018 Tui nominees for New Zealand Country Artist of the Year 2018 Phil Doublet and Lana Doublet give us a sample of their music with ‘Suitcase’ from Phil’s album ‘Strength, Love, Music & Light’ and ‘Drive-Bye’ from Lana’s album ‘Beautiful Human’.
An offering with a difference is the swingin country of New Zealand cricket legend John Wright with one of his tales of international cricketing in the title track of his album ‘Red Skies’. ‘The Sou’Westers’ kiwi combo of Aly Cook, Liam Ryan of the Narcs and Dean Hetherington of the Coalrangers also bring us the title track from their album ‘Going west’. Their Alt Country style/ RnB vibe sits perfectly alongside newly released Tony Lee with the first single from his album of the same name ‘So far from the Truth’. New comer Sharon Miller rounds up with a country rock offering ‘Kick my boots off’
