Aly Cook: Musical Boomer From Kiwi Country

Aly during filming of Red Dirt Road Trip video in Alice Springs. Photo by Amy Shields

One of the great pleasures of writing a travel blog is that I get to hear from travel lovers all over the world.

Recently I got an email from Aly Cook, a singer/songwriter (and baby boomer) from New Zealand who is particularly well known in Australia. Her music — including three albums and a raft of  number one country hits in Australia — combines country with rock, blues, and soul influences.

Among many other awards, she was named New Zealand Female Country Artist of the Year in 2012 and has been nominated five times for that honor.

Aly lives in the town of Nelson, New Zealand, nestled on Tasman Bay on the north coast of the South Island. (Before visiting Nelson some years ago, I had never heard of it. Talk about “best-kept secrets” — it was friendly, a little funky, and flat-out gorgeous, with a thriving arts and music scene, mountainous backdrop, and a surprisingly cosmopolitan feel.)

Aly also loves to travel, and has done much of it both as a performer and concert promoter in her native country as well as in Australia and Europe.

Her most recent music video, the single Cold Wind, was shot in the beautiful  East Mac Donnell Ranges in the Northern Territory east of Alice Springs, near Ross River Resort. It’s both a visual and musical treat.

I’ve played it a number of times on YouTube in the past few days both because I like the music and the background scenery — and also because of the poignant subject matter, with our own cold wind now blowing mercilessly across the United States (casting a chill over even our searing temperatures here in the Arizona desert).

Another of Aly’s music videos shot near Alice Springs, Red Trip Road Trip, is an upbeat country-rock song that’s fun to listen to — and will bring back memories of the Australian Outback to anyone who’s been there.

Aly reports that she was slated to be touring Australia right now promoting Cold Wind, but COVID-19 restrictions in New Zealand — which have, not incidentally, been extremely effective there — have temporarily shelved those plans.

So I’m very happy to present a first at clarknorton.com: both a just-released music video and to introduce many of you to the wonderful music of the Kiwi baby boomer/travel lover Aly Cook: Cold Wind.

Special note to U.S. Readers: We hope you had a happy, healthy, and safe Fourth of July weekend, and, amid the fireworks and barbecues, were able to observe some moments of silence for all the victims of this rampaging virus. Please mask up, maintain a social distance — and keep most travel to a minimum for now.