Hamilton County Bluegrass Band
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Comment: Very cool article but you need more references from independent sources - much of the article is sourced to the HHCB website. You can add a ton of refs from books - this is a search for Colleen Trenwithhttps://www.google.com/search?q=Hamilton+County+Bluegrass+Band&oq=Hamilton+County+Bluegrass+Band&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.899j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#q=colleen+trenwith+bluegrass&tbm=bks - if you want to ping me after more refs are added I'll review it (sorry you've had to wait so long). JSFarman (talk) 21:25, 17 June 2017 (UTC)
The Hamilton County Bluegrass Band is a long-running New Zealand bluegrass band. Described as "legendary" by Radio New Zealand, they have been performing since the 1960s..[1] [2]
History
The Hamilton County Bluegrass Band was founded in Hamilton by Alan Rhodes and Paul Trenwith. Their main influence was the music of Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs from the Blue Grass Boys. Dave Calder, who was studying in Auckland, liked the sound and became their mandolin player. The called themselves Muleskinners and started performing in 1966. Classical violinist Colleen Bain met the group in 1967 and joined the band as its fiddle player. Two of Calders friends from university, Len Cohen and Sandy McMillin, also joined to complete the lineup.[3]
After producer Bryan Easte saw them performing at folk festivals and local music venues he invited them on to his television show, “The Country Touch”.[4] This forced them to decide on a name and eventually Hamilton County Bluegrass Band was chosen. Their first album, self titled, was released in 1967, and their first successful single was “Barefoot Nellie”/”I’ll Never Hold You In My Arms Again”. Four further albums were released in 1968 and 1969, the last featuring Bill Clifton.[3]
Capitilising on their success the Hamilton County Bluegrass Band turned professional in 1968, signing on with HMV. McMillin was replaced by Lyndsay Bedogni. In 1970 their single “Carolina On My Mind”/”Roll Muddy River” was a finalist in the Loxene Golden Disc Awards. A year later the “Hey Boys”/”Proud Mary” single also made it into the finals. These two singles were included on the “Fifth Season” album. Cohen and Bedogni found the touring lifestlye too hard and decided to leave the band and Miles Reay joined. In 1971 “Live At The Wynyard Tavern” was released.[3]
The band changed to the Columbia label and released two singles, “You”/”Gentle Ways Of Loving Me” and “Mercedes Benz”/”Old Times (It’s Easy To Forget)” came out on. Calder then left for England and Graham Lovejoy became the new mandolin player.[3] They also were convinced to relocated to Australia and regularly toured with iconic Australian country musician, Slim Dusty. The Hamilton County Bluegrass Band also travelled to the USA in the 1970s. They recorded "For you" and “Kersbrook Cottage” in Sydney under Columbia.[5]
In 1974 they decided it was time to slow down and moved back to New Zealand. They still appeared on "Country Road" occasionally and found time to release an album titled after the show. In 1975 they recorded one of their signature songs. “Orange Blossom Special”. Paul and Colleen, now husband and wife, left not long after. This effectively ended the band, although a final album called “Orange Blossom Special” was released in 1978.[3] Paul and Colleen Trenwith recorded four albums under their names between 1976 and 1986.[3]
In 1993, a 25th Anniversary compilation called “1968 To 1973″ was released. The album Encore came out in the late 1990s. In the band were Alan, Colleen, Paul, Dave Calder, and Colleen and Paul's son Jeremy. This line-up played periodically from 1994 to 2001. In 2002 a very best of compilation was released, which contained tracks mainly from the “Fifth Season” and “Kersbrook Cottage” albums[5]. The Hamilton Country Bluegrass Band was inducted into New Zealands country music Hands of Fame in 2015[6] and in 2016 Paul received the Queens Service Medal for his services to country music.[7]
They are still producing music and in 2017 their album "These Old Hands" was a finalist for Best Country Music Album at the Golden Guitar awards.[8]
Original line-up
- Alan Rhodes (Guitar / Banjo / Mandolin / Vocals)
- Paul Trenwith (Banjo / Vocals)
- Dave Calder (Mandolin / Guitar / Vocals)
- Colleen Bain [Trenwith] (Fiddle)
- Len Cohen (Mouth Harp / Guitar / Vocals)
- Sandy McMillin (String Bass)
References
- ^ "NZ Live - Hamilton County Bluegrass Band". Radio New Zealand. 2014-02-14. Retrieved 2017-05-09.
- ^ http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/2585769/nz-live-hamilton-county-bluegrass-band
- ^ a b c d e f "History | Hamilton County Bluegrass Band". server.reelmen.co.nz. Retrieved 2018-01-04.
- ^ "Y'all Come - New Zealand country music on television 1968 to 1987 - AudioCulture". www.audioculture.co.nz. Retrieved 2017-05-09.
- ^ a b "www.hamiltoncounty.co.nz". www.hamiltoncounty.co.nz. Retrieved 2017-05-09.
- ^ "Bluegrass band inducted into Hands of Fame". Stuff. Retrieved 2018-01-04.
- ^ "Bluegrass music pioneer Paul Trenwith acknowledged with Queens Service Medal". Stuff. Retrieved 2018-01-04.
- ^ "Country Music Awards to be presented at 2017 Golden Guitars | Scoop News". www.scoop.co.nz. Retrieved 2018-01-04.
External links
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