ERIN HAY'S

TALES FROM DOWN UNDER!

G'Day Mates!

Well I arrived in Melbourne around 8:30 AM on September 15th. Trudy Burke was there to greet me at the airport. I knew right away she and I would get along great because she is a fun, no nonsense kind of gal. First thing I said to her was, "Oh God I must look awful!" (after 15 hours of flying and trying to sleep as much as I could) and she said, "No you don't," then took another look and said, "Oh yes you do." We both laughed! Trudy is a DJ at WYN FM and was our host while in Melbourne. We got to her house and I greeted Larry Dean, another American artist in for the Mildura Independent Country Music Festival. I won't go into details, but let's just say Trudy and I were seconds from greeting him in the buff. He wasn't expecting us home so early and was feeling pretty at home at Trudy's. Hee! I wanted to freshen up a bit, so I went into Trudy's bathroom and plugged in my curling iron to let it heat up. I went back into the kitchen to visit with them for a bit and all of a sudden Trudy's stereo power went off. I joked that it was probably my curling iron. It was no joke. I went into the bathroom and my curling iron had burned up. It was black as coal from the inside out and had burned a hole in her counter top. I ripped it out of the socket immediately and ran into the kitchen to tell her. I felt so bad. Leave it to me to try and burn down her bathroom within an hour of my arrival. What had happened was I had the right plug adapter, but not the right power converter. What a way to make an impression! I'm so sorry Trudy. Later that afternoon, Robin Right and her husband, Fred, arrived. I'd never met them before so it was nice to visit and get to know them. I would soon discover that Robin is a powerhouse on stage (what energy!) and she does a wonderful tribute to Tammy Wynette! The next morning Rustie Blue and Robert Keister arrived, then the next day Stevie Cee and his wife, Deb, arrived. The night of the 17th we had a mini rehearsal at Trudy's for our 2 shows we had scheduled at the Southern Star Saloon Bar that Saturday and Sunday in Melbourne. We got to meet DJ Ollie Klufinski-Kirby (WYN FM) and her sweet, sweet Robert that night. What wonderful people! On the 18^th, we all had a nice dinner and visit at a pancake house along with Ollie and Robert. Our main rehearsal was on Friday. We got up that morning and drove to Geelong for a radio interview at Country FM with Ron Hoysted and Ron Cockell. It was so nice to meet the gang out there and the interviews went great! Then we drove back to Melbourne to do Trudy's radio show, which was a lot of fun as well. John Slaven, another DJ (Traveling Country CHR-FM 96.5,) met us at Trudy's station. It was nice to finally meet him. In between each of us doing interviews with Trudy, we did interviews with John. Rustie and I also called in radio interviews to Smoky Sheldrick from there.  It was great talking with him as well. It was a good time. Then we left Trudy's and headed to rehearsal with the Southern Exposure band. They were great, and I say thank you so much for learning all our songs and backing us. We really appreciated all your hard work. The show on Saturday went great. There were a lot of DJs there and it was great to meet them and get to visit and thank them in person for all their support (Trudy Burke, John Slaven, Ron Hoysted, Barry Wass (wearing my t-shirt,) Kasper Smit, Col & Elsie Bernard, Casey from Radio Casey, Tony Slingsby, Ollie Klufinski-Kirby, Graeme Godkin to name a few-I know I’m missing some and I apologize.) We also met a lot of new fans and friends. It was nice to meet Australian country artist, Steve O’Connor, at the show. We had emailed back and forth before I traveled over there. After the show that night, I was not feeling very well. I had felt a cold coming on, but was trying to ignore it. The next day, I was sick, no denying it. I got through the Sunday show, which went great as well, but then worried about how I was going to get well before Mildura. Rustie and I hurried home after the Sunday show to phone in interviews to Big Al Field from Triple U FM in Nowra. It was great talking to him. I just rested as much as I could after that and took plenty of medicine and drank lots of hot tea. Gary Bradshaw arrived in Melbourne on September 22nd. We went to Ollie's house that night for an amazing home cooked dinner! Thank you Ollie! Tony Slingsby was there as well, another DJ from WYN FM. It was a fun night. On the 23rd, we called in interviews to Ollie’s radio show, and after that, Graeme Godkin, a DJ from Yarra Valley FM 99.1, who we had met the day we went to Geelong, came and got us and took us all to the Healesville Sanctuary to see some of Australia's wildlife. It was a neat trip. We saw wombats, wallabees, koalas, dingos, kangaroos and a bunch more. We learned how to throw a boomerang from an Aboriginal man named Murrundindi. We all bought handmade boomerangs from him. It was fun! Then we went to Graeme's radio station for interviews. That was a lot of fun and everyone at the station was very nice. It was nice to see our new friend Jim Clarke there that day as well. We had met him at the Southern Star Saloon Bar with Graeme. After the radio show, we all went to Graeme's house for dinner. His lovely wife had prepared a delicious meal for us. It was a great day! We had a great time in Melbourne and it was so much fun getting to know the other American artists better-You’re the best! Thanks go out to Trudy for being our host and for organizing such great shows at the Southern Star Saloon Bar and thank you to Ollie for housing Stevie and Deb and for the great meal! Half of us flew to Mildura on September 24th, the others drove. We met our drivers for the week at the Mildura Airport, Barry and Jeff, great guys! What a job they did keeping everything straight during the festival and making sure everyone was where they needed to be on time. After checking into the hotel, it was time to rest a bit. That night we all went to John Arnold's (festival organizer) house for a barbecue. That was great. It was nice to finally meet him. I just wish I had felt better. My cold was really getting to me that night sitting outside. We had a fun time though. That night, Rustie Blue and I went to HotFM with Max Thorburn to be interviewed by Bob Spence (Country Across Australia.) It was very late, but well worth it. The interviews were great and went out to a lot of listeners all across Australia. Bob you were a delight as were you, Noelene (thanks for the dinner and coffee on my last night there!) The next day we went to a celebrity golf tournament at the Coomealla Golf Course hosted by Peter Menzie. I am not a golfer, but I drove Larry Dean's team golf cart pretty well. Trudy rode with me. We just watched and critiqued. We had been told we'd see plenty of kangaroos on the golf course, but it wasn't until the 7th hole when we spotted them. It was pretty neat to be able to get that close to them. The festival began on September 26th. My first show was in the outside mall down from the hotel. Olive Bice hosted that showcase and it was a lot of fun. What a sweet lady! Then that night I did the Girls Night Out show at the Coomealla Club, which was fun. The rest of the week was cram packed with great shows. It was so much fun and my voice held out, thank God! I met so many nice people. Getting to meet all the local artists was great, like Dwayne Elix, Sweeney Killeen, Michael King, Craig Giles, Craig Byrne, Donna Boyd, Billy Bridge, Karen Williams, Gina Sterling, Brooke Leal, Angela Hayden, Joelene Mandrakas, Dianna Corcoran, Megan Laurie, Carter & Carter, Fisk & Cristian, Gene Bradley Fisk, Owen Blundell, Ian Muir, Donella Plane, Tracey Vaughan, Shane Flew, Pixie Anne, Kel-Anne Brandt (wish we had had more time to visit) to name a few. Everyone was so nice. And all the bands really deserve some praise for having to back so many artists and play so many different songs. Thanks so much to all of you! I did a lot of fun shows, but the ones that stand out are as follows:

Merbein Citizen’s Club Sept. 30 - DJ Doug Weedon (Doug's Hillbilly & Indie Showcase in St. Clair) set up a special surprise for me this night. His favorite song of mine is "The Circle, " so he asked Dwayne Elix to learn it on guitar so I could do it with the house band that night. He asked me to do the song last on my set, so I did. Well when it came time to introduce the song, I mentioned I was going to get Dwayne back out on stage to help me with it. All of a sudden I hear this loud applause and turn around to find Dwayne dressed in his Hank Williams costume with his guitar. It was great! What a memory, and the crowd loved it! Thank you Dwayne for going out of your way to make this happen. What a guy! I also met DJ Ian Crombie (1629 AM Newcastle) this evening, very sweet man.

Country On The Darling, Wentworth Warf Sept. 30 - This was a nice outdoor show. The reason it stands out is because the Johnny Doyle band was set to back us, but only two of them made it to the show. Joy Adams from New Zealand ended up hosting, singing harmony and playing drums for some of the show. It was great and we all had a blast! Thank you Joy and Johnny for making it all work. The show must go on as they say!

Wentworth Rockabilly Show with Craig Giles Sept. 30 - This was one show I was a bit worried about because I do not do Rockabilly songs normally, but thanks to Roz Giles for helping me figure something out. Both Roz and Craig were great to me, and I had a lot of fun. I just told the band to put a Rockabilly beat to my country songs, and I held on and did my best. I ended up doing "Harper Valley PTA" at this show and had fun with it. Even the few moments it took on stage to teach Mick, the lead guitar player, the opening lick was entertaining, and let me tell you, he nailed it!

Brunette's Strike Back at Workers Club Sept. 29 - This was a fun show, and I loved it because I got to do the most amount of songs this night, as there were only 5 acts on the show. The band was great, and we all had fun! I got to do Loretta Lynn's "If You're Lookin' At Me (You're Lookin' At Country)" song and the crowd loved it. I figured it was appropriate since she is one of my idols and is herself a brunette.

The Talent Quest Awards Sept. 28 - I was one of the special guests this night, and it was a lot of fun. So many young up and coming country music artists were there this night, and it was nice to see their enthusiasm and get to wish them luck in their musical dreams. A special hello goes out to Jessica and her grandmother from Sydney. Good luck to you and don't ever stop believing in your dreams or yourself. 

Buttercup Barclay Bash Sept. 27 - This was a good show because I got to meet DJ Barry Williams from Radio Northern Beaches 90.3 FM for the first time. He hosted the show. What a sweet man! It was also a memorable show because I finally dared to attempt a ballad after having such throat problems due to my cold. I sang "There Goes My Everything," and made it through it just fine, and the audience loved it. What a relief it was to know my voice was not a goner for the rest of the festival!

The International Show at Coomealla Golf Club Oct. 2 - This show was the greatest. We had so much fun this night and so did the crowd. The show was hosted by Joy Adams and included myself, Larry Dean, Rustie Blue, Robin Right, Stevie Cee, James Ray, Aroha Williams and Anneliese Frickleton. It was just a great night, wasn't a perfect show by any means, but something about it made it fantastic! Joy you were a perfect host and thanks again to the Johnny Doyle band.

Plaza Crossroads Sept. 29 - This was a special show for me because it was the first one where I got to perform my song "The Tree," which is doing very well on the chart in Australia, and also "The Circle." Larry Dean helped lead the band through them on guitar for me. Thank you so much for all your help Larry! Also, I met a lady after that performance who was almost in tears. She told me she had lost her husband not too long ago and that her granddaughter had looked up at the sky right before I sang and asked her if her grandpa was on one of those clouds. Then I started into the song "The Tree," which I dedicated to all the grandparents in the crowd. She said the song really touched her, and I was glad to hear that.

Henderson Park Oct. 4 & 5 - Both shows I did here were great because they had the biggest crowds, and the people were so enthusiastic. The Last Roundup show on the last day of the festival was amazing. Every artist got to get up and do one song for the crowd, and we all had so much fun!

Love,

Erin Hay

Southern Star Saloon Bar
Melbourne

with Bev King & Steve O'Connor

with DJ John Slaven, Robin Right & Rustie Blue

Interview with Graeme-Yarra Valley FM

 
with DJ Ron Hoysted and the gang at Country FM in Geelong

with Larry Dean at Country FM in Geelong

At the Healesville Sanctuary

   
Murrundindi with his digeridoo and boomerang!

Australian Wildlife!

Mildura!

Olive Bice Showcase

Coomealla Club

with DJ Barry Williams

with John Arnold & Stevie Cee

Performing "The Circle" with "Hank" (Dwayne Elix)
Merbein

International Show!

with Johnny Doyle

   Joy Adams, Gary Bradshaw, Erin, Robin, Stevie, Rustie

Larry, Erin, Rustie & Stevie
Last Round-Up, Henderson Park


The Fans!

with DJ Doug Weedon

Mildura Vineyard


Paddle Steamer

Wentworth Warf

with Robin, Kel-Anne Brandt & Rustie

with DJ Ken Randall

with DJ Beth Brown

Coomealla

 Note:  Thank you to everyone who helped provide photos for this page!