Tonight I witnessed one of the finest performances I can recall during our six - year residency at Shobnall. She may be diminutive in stature but when Katie Rhodes takes the stage her presence is colossal, her voice all powerful and bass guitar playing a joy.

Starting tonight with the uptempo Shelly West No 1 from 1983, Jose Cuervo, she immediately won over our members. This was followed by Hal Ketchum's, Tonight We Just Might Fall In Love Again, and a song new to me, I Wonder, from new country star Kellie Pickler, which was delivered with such emotion, it made the hairs on the back of my head stand up.

The evening continued in similar vein, each song being conveyed with such power and emotion, including, Crystal Gayle's 1978 chart topper, Ready For The Times To Get Better, and Rita MacNeil's, Working Man.

A lovely mix of old and new numbers throughout featured Dannie Leigh's, I Don't Feel That Way Anymore, Garth Brooks, If Tomorrow Never comes and Callin' Baton Rouge, Reba McEntire's, He Gets That From Me, Conway Twitty's 1983 chart topper, The Rose, Clay Walker's, Dreaming With My Eyes Wide Open and Heather Myles' Who Did You Call Darlin' .

Ending the show to tremendous applause, Katie gave us The Judd's, Love Can Build a Bridge, her third encore and the song she invariably uses to end her concerts, which incidentally brought the entire audience onto the dance floor in celebration.

CKatie's show tonight is one that will live in my memory for a long, long time.

Cyril Insley