Western Swing Hall Of Famer To Perform On Paddleboat

Media Release
13 January 2013

Western Swing Hall Of Famer To Perform On Paddleboat

Don Burnham and the Fern Frond Boogie Boys are touring Aotearoa in January and they are bringing their contemporary and classic Western Swing songs and tunes to Mangakino and Waikato audiences.

The band will play the Otunui, one of New Zealand’s few historic paddleboats, on Saturday, January 26 for two shows at 1.00pm and 6.00pm in Mangakino, Taupo district. The Otunui cruises Lake Maraetai with its native surrounds as the backdrop.

Burnham, an inductee in the Western Swing Hall of Fame, will be accompanied by his Kiwi wife Sarah Duckworth, vocals, plus ace musos Scott Lawrence, piano, and Jon 'Doc' Stein, steel guitar.

The band will swing around New Zealand, featuring Don's song/ode to Aotearoa - the Fern Frond Boogie.

Guitarist, vocalist and songwriter, Don Burnham is best known as founder and leader of the all-star Lost Weekend Western Swing Band (since 1985) www.lostweekend.ws. He has three CDs to his credit with Lost Weekend; his latest CD 'I Dreamed Count Basie Was A Cowboy'(Redoubtable Records RR 99) charted in the top 5 Western Swing albums of 2011-2012.

The band is a mix of Californians and Kiwis. They will perform songs and stories in contemporary western swing and country and the January event will be their second time performing on the Paddleboat.

Bookings are essential.
The Paddleboat Company
P: 07 882 8826
M: 027 418 3930
E: info@paddleboat.co.nz
www.paddleboat.co.nz
www.facebook.com/otunui

SCHEDULE:
Don Burnham and the Fern Frond Boogie Boys
Saturday, January 26, 2013 at 1:00pm
Saturday, January 26, 2013 at 6:00pm
Otunui Paddleboat, Lake Road, Mangakino

About the Otunui
Built as a kitset in the UK in 1907, The Otunui was then shipped to Whanganui where she was assembled and finished. She operated on the Whanganui River before sinking in a flood in 1949 and lay abandoned until the 1960s.

Refloated and rebuilt in 1973, The Otunui worked again carrying passengers on the river before being moved to Lake Okataina and then again to the Waikato River at Aratiatia, carrying passengers to the base of Huka Falls in Taupo including the Queen.

Then in April 2003, a fire burnt her to deck level at Wairakei near Taupo and she was removed to Coromandel. After a three-year restoration, The Otunui sailed to Paeroa then on to the Waihou River and operated from Te Aroha.

The Otunui will share the Waikato waterway with rowers, wake boarders, water skiers, kayakers and trout fisherman and waka ama.

Mangakino offers a host of activities including, a golf course, mountain biking and tramping on the Waikato River Trail, rock climbing, horse treks, a solar heated public pool, tramping in the Pureora Forest, rental baches plus backpacker and lodge or hotel style accommodation. The newly rebuilt Pouakani Marae will offer a Tikanga Maori accommodation and cultural experience in the near future.

The Otunui was moved to its new home in November 2010 and officially launched in December.

The Otunui is offering public and charter trips for up to 48 passengers on the tranquil waters of Lake Maraetai. For more information go to www.paddleboat.co.nz

ENDS

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