Glen Moffatt - The Timeline of Country Music In New Zealand

From Afternoons, 2:22 pm on 10 September 2019

Tex Morton, 1940s Photo courtesy AudioCulture

Johnny Cooper and his Range Riders. Wellington c1955 Photo courtesy of Sonic Records

Suzanne Prentice in the 1970s Photo courtesy AudioCulture.

Patsy Riggir promoting the release of ‘Lay Down Beside Me’, Queen Street, Auckland, 1981. Photo courtesy AudioCulture.

John Hore

The Warratahs

Delaney Davidson and Marlon Williams

Ebony Lamb, Barry Saunders and Tami Neilson

The Topp Twins

Country music in New Zealand feels like it's thriving right now.

We have the international success of Marlon Williams, the hardworking approach of Delaney Davidson crossing through genres and creating interesting collaborations, and dynamic performers like Tami Neilson.

But where did it all start? Do you know about the long history of country music in New Zealand? Do you remember the TV show That's Country hosted by Ray Columbus in the early 1980s? Do you remember back even further to the names from the 1950s, 60s and 70s?

Audioculture - The noisy library of New Zealand music - has been publishing a series of music genre timelines and this morning they released the country music one.

Music journalist and songwriter Glen Moffatt looks back at the history of country music in New Zealand.