Lumsden lights up Kurow

Kurow hosted a hoedown last weekend as Australian country musician Fanny Lumsden brought her Country Halls Tour to the town.

Almost 150 people packed out the Kurow Hall for the concert on Saturday night.

Fellow Australian Raechel Whitchurch opened the night.

Lumsden was backed by her band The Prawn Stars.

She played some of her biggest hits and the band even went acoustic for a song as they jumped off stage to perform among the crowd.

Lumsden was pleased to tick Kurow off her list of towns to play.

"I love coming to places we haven’t been to before.

"When you usually travel, you kind of just skim the surface, but I think doing something like this you really get to meet the community a bit more."

The Country Halls Tour started in 2012 and has seen Lumsden travel across Australia performing.

She came to New Zealand for the first time last year and decided to return for four shows, visiting Wellington, Gore and Christchurch alongside Kurow.

It was important for her to visit smaller towns that might not always get musicians to perform.

"I grew up in regional Australia and just knew that all these beautiful halls existed.

"I knew there were communities that wanted to come out and experience original live music."

The evening also featured an auction which raised $7000 for the Waitaki Valley School friends of the school committee.