At the Country Music Honours event held in Gore on May 23, Te Waipounamu songwriter Holly Arrowsmith and Mel Parsons won the two big awards for Best Country Music in Aotearoa.

Arrowsmith was announced as the winner of the 2024 APRA Best Country Music Song for her song Desert Dove, and Parsons took home the 2024 MLT Songwriting Award for her yet-to-be-released song Hardest Thing.