Jackson Five? Try the Halton Hart eight
It was a family affair as the next generation of Gore country music made a big show at the Dunedin Country music awards.
Meila Scully, 12, and her cousin Taegan Evans, 10, were the junior overall winner and runner-up at the music competition respectively.
Not to be outdone, their other cousins Hazel Evans, 7 and Erica Byers, 10, won the "Tiny Tots" and was the runner-up for the gospel section respectively.
Meila with another cousin, Georgia Martin, 11, won the duo section.
Altogether, the girls, alongside others in their family, perform as the Halton Hart band, named after the street their grandparents lived on in Gore and their love of hunting.
Meila said the eight family members in Halton Hart were accomplished musicians on their own, but loved getting together for a jam.
"We do a bit of country, bit of gospel, some of us do rock music, it's just a lot of fun, it makes me feel really happy.
"It feels really good that you get to do it with your family. I just love singing with them," she said.
Their aunt Kayla Mahon has mentored all of the family band from a young age, providing the expertise she has honed through her country music chops.
Practice clearly makes perfect as the awards keep piling up and the opportunities getting bigger and bigger.
Meila said Halton Hart would be hitting the charts, with a focus on family.
"[The song] we're releasing in a few weeks is called Granddad Mait, it's about our great-granddad who started our music career.
"He loved to sing and he taught aunty Kayla how, then she taught us like she was taught," she said.
Meila will also be recording her own song, called To Heaven, written in dedication to people in her life who have died.
Next up though, the country music dynasty in the making will be hitting the Golden Guitars, with plenty more individual and group accolades expected for the group.
Meila said she spoke for not only herself but all of the group when thanking her long time teacher.
"Big thank you to Aunty Kayla, for being the best music teacher ever, and helping me get this far."
gerrit.doppenberg@alliedpress.co.nz
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