I often think that country music gets a kinda raw deal in New Zealand.

Along with the blues, it seems to be a genre that is both remarkably popular and largely overlooked by mainstream radio, television and pretty much any other outlet for music.

Actually country music does a little better than blues, but it's mainly through the perseverance of fans, which is yet another indication of its grassroots level popularity: there are country clubs in most towns, there are the annual Country Music Awards in Gore, and there is an annual Tui Award for Best Country album. There are also – pretty much everywhere you go – country music jam sessions, the most popular in Tauranga happening every Wednesday night at the Crown and Badger on The Strand.

Country history

We also have a rich heritage of country music stretching back to Tex Morton and beyond and taking in bands like the Warratahs, still going strong, touring and releasing great music.

And a veritable legend of the country scene is coming to Tauranga's Mills Reef in a couple of weeks so, if you're a fan, get ready for a hoedown!

One of the prime New Zealand country bands was the Hamilton County Bluegrass Band. Once upon a time, before TV programmers eliminated such things, there used to be what was called ‘light entertainment' on television, programmes where bands and singers presented their tunes each week. This was of course in the days before all such pleasures were replaced by fatuous rigged music competitions promising instant stardom and multiple revenue streams for the producers.

But not long ago New Zealand had a show called That's Country. DVDs of the series have been released over the past couple of years to considerable success. However, the pioneers in that field were the Hamilton County Bluegrass Band.

Big time fiddler

In the late sixties these guys were the biggest thing around. They had their own TV show called Country Touch. And the focal point of the band was their extraordinary fiddler, Colleen Trenwith.

Back in those days she played everywhere with the band, toured Australia with country icon Slim Dusty, and even travelled to Nashville to play at the Grand Ole Opry, which is about the equivalent of a jazz musician playing at the New Orleans festival – pretty high cotton, whoever you are.

And Colleen's been getting to know Nashville and Tennessee a lot better in recent times.

In 2008 she took up an opportunity to study music at The University of East Tennessee, and two years later she was enlisted as a full-time tutor. It's not often that a Kiwi gets taken seriously in the American country music industry, let alone gets invited to teach university courses in the home of country music. If any confirmation of Colleen's talents was needed, then this is a good one.

But Colleen is briefly back in New Zealand and has gotten together with some old buddies for a short tour. Prior to heading over to the US of A, she spent several years on the Kapiti Coast, collaborating with acts including country rock duo Legal Tender, and swing trio Hot Club Sandwich.

Teaming up talent

Now Legal Tender's Ian Campbell (guitar) and Moira Howard (bass guitar) have teamed up with Hot Club's Andrew London (guitar, banjo, piano and mandola) to join Trenwith in a show called Tales of Tennessee, in which she presents a selection of stories and music accumulated over a 40 year career on the stage, focussing on her most recent experiences in and around Tennessee. The repertoire will range from country, western swing and bluegrass tunes popularised by artists such as Guy Clark, Gillian Welch and Alison Krauss to original songs by London, well-known for his humorous and satirical slant on Kiwi culture.

The quartet is coming to town on Thursday July 12, playing one show at Mills Reef Winery. It'll be a dinner show with tables ‘n' all rather than theatre seating, so if you harbour a soft spot for a little fiddling, or a little Hot Club humour, or just want an excuse to wear a cowboy hat in public, grab a ticket before they go. They're $30 from the winery (phone 576 8800) and are expected to sell out.