New Zealand Gold Guitar junior and intermediate winners named in Gore

Saturday, 5 June 2021

New Zealand Gold Guitar Awards 2021 Intermediate winner Zac Griffiths, of Wakefield.

When Zac Griffith went to the MLT New Zealand Gold Guitar Awards in Gore in 2019, he and his band got so sick they struggled to talk.

When the 16-year-old returned this year, he won the intermediate section.

“It’s pretty incredible – it’s a dream come true,’’ he said, after walking away with a prize package that includes the chance to perform in Australia next year.

“I don’t know what to say really – I’m blown away.’’

* Third time's a charm as Jaydin Shingleton wins New Zealand Gold Guitar Award in Gore

NZ Gold Guitar Awards 2021 junior winner Sophie Toyne, of Whanganui.

It was an old Hank Williams song, Long Gone Lonesome Blues, in the traditional section that won Griffith the overall title, and he was also the section winner in the gospel and vocal solo sections.

Erica Byars of Waikaka sings at the NZ Gold Guitar Awards junior country rock category competition

“It’s a good old song from the 1950s, I like the story it tells, it speaks to me in a cool way and I really enjoy performing it,’’ he said.

Molly Harrison of Ashburton singing at the 2021 NZ Gold Guitar Awards junior gospel competition.

Griffith, a pupil of Garin College in Nelson, said he had been singing since he was seven and had also competed at the awards as a junior in 2017.

NZ Gold Guitar Awards Intermediate winner Zac Griffiths of Wakefield receives the award from 2019 winner Ocean Waitokia

Alyssa Landrebe of Dunedin was the runner up in the intermediate section at the NZ Gold Guitar Awards in Gore.

Hannah Beer of Invercargill won the NZ Gold Guitar Awards 2021 intermediate instrumental category.

In a poignant moment, he dedicated his performance in the gospel section, when he sung Go Rest High on that Mountain, to the four people who died in a car crash at Ashburton on Friday, while they were on their way to the Gold Guitar Awards.

Also taking home a gold guitar was Sophie Toyne, 11, of Whanganui, who won the junior title with her performance of Miley Cyrus’s It’s the Climb in the junior gospel section.

“I’m quite shocked but really happy,’’ she said.

A pupil at Huntley School at Marton, and a member of the Whanganui Country Music Club, she said she picked the song because it was quite inspirational, and one of her favourites.

The junior overall runner-up was Molly Harrison, of Ashburton, with her performance in the country rock section, and the intermediate runner-up was Alyssa Landrebe, of Dunedin, with her performance in the New Zealand song section.

Saturday night’s junior and intermediate finals were on the second last day of Gore’s inaugural Tussock Country Music Festival, which has seen the southern town packed with music fans who have attended more than 30 events during the week.

It will finish on Sunday night, when the senior finalist of the MLT Gold Guitars is announced.