Nice talking to you again, sorry for the long gap from the last news item till now, but a higher power has intervened, and told me I must slow down, in other words, my motor is getting a bit sluggish, and my heart is giving me the message.

It is now patently obvious that the recording of the album "Loose Talk" was timed to perfection, I worked my heart out in more ways than one, I am very proud of the finished article, and if you get to hear it, I sincerely hope you like it.

In the past few weeks, we have been blessed with the presence of MAX McCAULEY to Taranaki, and he was very well received. He is performing as well as ever, and it was indeed a pleasure to see him and his wife Coral again.

DUSTY SPITTLE was another to return, and it was nice to hear him entertain with the stories he has written over the years, he has his unique way of portraying those stories, and he has toured in Australia with the likes of Buddy Williams, and Rick and Thel Carey, so he has travelled the miles, to get the ideas for many of those stories.

I would just love to catch-up with JONI HARMS when she visits New Zealand on her maiden trip here, she is booked to appear at the Bay of Islands Country Rock Festival over the weekend of 7th to 9th of May, but she would like to do other venues while she is here, so if you can help her out with something, please contact Trevor Ruffell on comus@xtra.co.nz he will take it from there. Joni is a top act in the States, and puts the Western back into the Country.

Noelene and I spent a most enjoyable time as guest artists up at the Big River Country Music Festival at Aranga, North of Dargaville over New Year, and we enjoyed re-acquainting ourselves with CRAIG ROBERTSON, who these days resides in Australia, and is still pretty good to listen to, and also from Taranaki was young ABBIE, spreading her wings, and adding to her experience.

Nice to catch-up with DES ROWE, who lives permanently in Northland these days, and a real joy to spend time with PHIL GODFREY, convener of the festival, who delighted us, and everyone else, with his humorous poems and songs of the outback. He also has a couple of radio programmers you should tune into, on the internet, every Saturday from 10am to 2pm on www.bigriverfm.co.nz and every Sunday from 8-10pm. He is a very knowledgeable host, and a really good broadcaster, having honed his skills in Australia for many years, before moving to New Zealand just a few short years ago.

Another character it was a joy to see again, was DAVE HODGSON, a really neat fellow, and not forgetting the sound engineer, and guitarist, TED VISKOVICH, who proved very professional and proficient, and PETER RAWLINGS, excellent bass guitarist, the list goes on.

One of those CD purchasers later rang and asked us to sing at her birthday party at Ngunguru, North of Whangarei, in February, so we happily did that, after much consideration and cajoling, but the trip did prove to be almost a trip too far, as I was forced to pay extra visits to North Shore, and Whangarei hospitals, which in turn encouraged us to return home without delay, and then Base Hospital in New Plymouth beckoned, so right now, I am taking things a lot easier.

Another piece of news I just heard, was that Tanza recording artist JOHNNY HAMBLYN, died in Australia about four years ago. His son Steven contacted a friend of ours, asking about music that his dad made in the 50s .

Rex Franklin

Max McCauley at Waverley, 2010	The billboard advertising Rex and Noelene for Pat Bissett's birthday at Nganguru
Rex and Noelene Franklin singing for Pat at Nganguru 2010	A coastal scene North of Nganguru, Northland
rex and noelene with des rowe and his sister dawn	rex with phil godfrey at orewa
Phil Godfrey and Rex Franklin at Aranga, January 2010