Roger Tibbs
Capturing the stage at the 2025 Wairarapa Music in the Country festival is Roger Tibbs. Roger came from a musical family background. After winning several Country Music Awards he was offered a Recording Contract where his album ‘Yodelling Man’ achieved the biggest selling album in Australasia at the Tamworth Country Music Awards in 1986. Roger remains the only NZ Male to have received a Tamworth Gold Guitar for a solo award.
After working in Australia and NZ and producing several subsequent albums, the offer came to perform at the Calgary Stampede in Canada in 2008. This led to an invitation to tour in the United States. From 2010 there were three tours in three years with an ever growing fan base, culminating in a signed contract for his own show at a prestigious theatre in Branson, Missouri in 2013. At this time Roger had been inducted into the Traditional Country Music Hall of Fame in the USA.
The USA adventure suddenly came to an end when Denise and Roger suffered a family tragedy in 2014 where all musical aspirations came to an end. Rogers’ guitar sat under the bed and all future bookings were cancelled. It has taken many years but after considerable encouragement from many of Rogers’ friends and music industry contemporaries, desire has been rekindled to the point where in 2023 a brand new album has been produced featuring originals and music sourced from a life time of experience.
As Roger says ‘there are things left yet to do’.