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Ruakaka farm girl sings for the nation

Tammy's singing is a hit with New Zealanders as well as her "girls"

Most mornings Ruakaka farm worker Tammy D'Ath sings to her girls as she works, but it's possible her bovine audience don't realise how lucky they are - her soulful voice just won the Good Morning television show's national find a star talent quest.

About 300 people submitted auditions for the competition, from there 30 were chosen and over the course of a week, six recorded performances were played each morning on the show and viewers voted for their top three favourite to go through to the semifinals.

The country voted Tammy into the semi-finals of the competition after her homemade recording of ‘Angel', by Sarah McLachlan screened nationwide on the show, which runs from 9:00am to noon on TV One each weekday.

Tammy, along with the other 14 semifinalists then travelled to Wellington where she performed live at the programme's television studio in Avalon. The people of New Zealand showed they loved her performance, and demonstrated their appreciation by voting for her a second time - into one of the six finalist spots.

The 24 year old won the national television competition on July 9, with her heart and soul rendition of Billie Holiday's, ‘God Bless The Child,' performed live on the show, proving her talents definitely extend beyond the farm.

Dairy farmers in Northland, the Waikato and the South Island, however, were singing Tammy's praises long before she made national television - as a Livestock Improvement (LIC) artificial breeding technician Tammy is ranked among the top 10% in the country.

Tammy has been milking cows almost as long as she has been singing and says she loves cows and loves music and both make her happy. She is "stoked' to have won the competition and now hopes that she can consider a career in both the music and dairying industries.

"I started turning up and helping out on Graeme Finlayson's farm when I was around 10/11 years old. My own family were not farmers, but Graeme was good friends with my dad and put up with me until I proved this was actually what I wanted to do for a living.

"I milked before and after school until I was about 16, when I left school and completed a Northland Certificate in Agriculture. I have worked on many different farms, but have returned to Graeme's and am working there currently in between AB runs, as he is a very supportive employer who has encouraged me to further my career in livestock and music (which you wouldn't get from many employers)."

"If I can take my singing further," says Tammy. "And this opportunity can kick start my career I really hope I will still have time for the girls (cows) - it's what I have always done and I love cows.

"Winning is such a big deal - and I loved the opportunity to present, on television, the rural side to the city side - people outside of farming, generally don't know about AB or the realities of farming - so I was proud that I could do my small bit to help educate city people a bit about farming life.

"Farming is not all cute calves and playing with them - it's hard work, you are getting up early, calves are hungry and it can be upsetting at times, especially when you lose an animal - but the job is rewarding, especially when you have happy well fed cows."

The prize package which Tammy won, totalling over $40,000, includes a $1500 Westfield shopping spree, "which I am really looking forward to," a Play Station 3, "with lots of Sing Star games," $1000 teeth whitening with the Gentle Dentist, recording of a single at Manuka Studios, a recording/mixing desk and the biggie, three months of career development work with New Zealand guitar legend, concert promoter, star-maker and musical director, Gray Bartlett, culminating, Tammy hopes, in the release of a single.

"Gray Bartlett will be like my agent for three months, so I am really hoping working with him will result in a musical career.

"I am also hoping that we can fit the three months in around the AB season as I want to do my run in Northland and travel to the South Island and do the same I run I did near Christchurch last season.

"I love being an AB technician, I love singing and love the cows. But doing AB is something more, it is also a job which I can get a lot of satisfaction from - by seeing the results, travelling and meeting lots of new people'.

"As an AB tech I feel like a professional, and I am proud to represent LIC in this very important role on farms - getting cows in calf.

"If I can continue with the AB work, it will also allow me to save some money for that three months, which means I will be able to concentrate on my music and enjoying the experience, without having to worry too much about finances."

Now going into her seventh season as a LIC AB Tech, Tammy is one of the shortest AB technicians in the country and when she trained, was one of the youngest.

"I was 15 or 16 when an LIC AB Technician came to the farm I work on, her name was Julie Brown, and after watching and learning from her, I knew I wanted to do it - so as soon as I could, I joined LIC and trained to become a tech.

Tammy has done most of her AB work in Northland, however, she has worked in the Waikato and last year also travelled to the South Island during mating season and according to feedback received by LIC the farmers there want her back this season. "I was lucky enough to have very supportive AB supervisors/trainers (Andrew Ryan and Linda Henwood) who encouraged me and enabled me to become a travelling technician and do the Waikato andSouth Island AB runs."

"The cows are bigger in the South Island, and so are the herds (compared to Northland). For me working on the farms on my AB run in the South Island was a really cool experience. In comparison I normally inseminate approximately 3000 cows in Northland, and did approximately 7000 in the South Island. "In Northland when you arrive on a farm to do AI (artificial insemination) you find 15 cows in the shed waiting for you, and that is a big day. But as some of the herds I was working with were 1200 to 1500 cows, not surprisingly one morning there were over 60 cows waiting for me.

"At first I got quite a fright, but farmers in Southland are used to their big herds and plenty of time is allowed to get the job done - and I really enjoyed getting into it."

While in the South Island Tammy was able to "jam" in Christchurch during October, November and December and has performed locally in Whangarei for a number of years, however, singing and playing guitar in a pub, does not, says Tammy, prepare you for being in front of television cameras.

"I found it all quite scary, there were about five cameras each the size of an A4 piece of paper in my face, real close and moving around me.

"It was a very different experience from having a wine and singing in a pub.

"I never thought I'd win. I am not a competitive person, and do not come from a competitive family, but I had just recently broke up with my band when I saw the Good Morning show was launching a Find a Star competition.

"I wanted to keep on singing, and thought entering the competition might be a fun way to continue.

"Singing to my girls, who are the perfect audience - they never complain - is not going to lead me onto a musical career path, but I hope even with this amazing opportunity, if it leads to bigger things, I will still get time to sing to the cows while I'm milking and continue with my work as an AB Technician."