Dusty Spittle

about

Balladeer and songwriter Dusty Spittle’s first album was released in 1967 and was followed by another 15 or so brimming with his own songs well into the 2010s. It felt as if his lopsided grin, vice-like handshake and black hat had been around New Zealand country music forever and would continue to be. Several flirtations with Australia included his first radio broadcasts, in Tasmania and Victoria in 1962. He even had an EP released there wrongly credited as “with The Hamilton Blue Grass Band” instead of The Hamilton County Bluegrass Band. In 1992 Spittle cheated death when he underwent brain surgery to remove a rare colloid cyst. The ordeal resulted in temporary memory loss, however he slowly regained his confidence and was back in the saddle a few years later after much encouragement from wife Fay. When he recovered, he and Fay travelled the country in a motor home, stopping to perform at country music clubs. But he suffered a stroke in November 2018 and was admitted to Dunstan Hospital in Clyde. There he fell from his bed and broke a hip, which was operated on in Dunedin. He developed pneumonia and was transferred back to Clyde but never recovered. Dusty Spittle passed away at the age of 79 on December 8, 2018. He had still been performing around Southland until falling ill and had surprised Warratahs frontman Barry Saunders in mid-October by showing up at the Captain Cook Tavern in Dunedin on the band’s 30th anniversary tour. A prolific songwriter with around 300 title

top songs

albums

Kiwi Storyteller

▥

Under the Sun - Songs of New Zealand

▥

The Great Songs of New Zealand

▥

Kiwi Country

Kiwi Country Tales

▥

Songs Of New Zealand

▥

New Zealands Country Heritage

▥

More Kiwis ... By Request

▥

Classic Songs of New Zealand

▥

40 Years of Memories

▥

Tumbling Down 40 Great Hits Of NZ Country Music

▥

The Great Songs Of New Zealand 1

similar artists