Country star claims racism rife at festival
A former Gore Gold Guitar winner has called out racist overtones at the festival, surprising organisers, who have vowed to fix the issues.
The 50th anniversary of the MLT Gold Guitar Awards held in Gore two weeks ago had the town packed with country music fans.
But last year's winner Amy Maynard was left singing the blues, after what she called the worst festival experience of her life.
The Māori musician told the Otago Daily Times she noticed multiple incidents of being treated differently than her partner, who is white, and between her sons who have different complexions, as well as reactions to te reo Māori.
"It's the eye rolls you see when people start using Māori on stage, people looking and projecting their anger and frustration just at me, not my partner.
"Security would go to my middle kid, who is of a darker complexion, and not my eldest, just the discrepancy between the two," she said.
Ms Maynard said she was not alone in these thoughts and said many people shared similar sentiments about their experiences in Southland.
"I have had multiple people reaching out to me [various sound engineers, musicians, wonderful people], who have all in some way been affected, either micro or macro, aggressively from people down south," she said.
"Being in Gore this year and out of my stage attire, I must have presented a very different picture to the general public.
"As a result, they treated me as such," she said.
Ms Maynard said she was warned to avoid speaking te reo Māori or face an immediate disqualification, which she disregarded when winning last year.
She said although there was positive movement with more te reo spoken and sung in the event, inclusivity had not been wholeheartedly embraced.
MLT Gold Guitar Awards convener Phillip Geary said the event had a zero tolerance policy for racism of any kind.
"We always aim to create a safe and inclusive space at our event and we were deeply disheartened and disappointed to hear of Amy's experience," he said.
Mr Geary denied there were any disqualifications for speaking te reo, as the language has always been encouraged and welcome on their stage.
"Māori have always had a home in country music in New Zealand, and te reo has always featured in the Gold Guitar finals, right through the 50 years," he said.
Advice would be sought from Soundcheck Aotearoa, a music industry group dedicated to safety and inclusivity, to help address potential issues, he said.
Mr Geary said they were taking Ms Maynard's grievances and the issues raised very seriously.
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