Nearly 10 years after television cameras followed him to Matata where he played for victims for the 2005 eastern Bay of Plenty flood, Dave Dobbyn has been back on musical counselling duties.
Though this time Dobbyn's journey isn't just a matter of bashing out Loyal or Welcome Home for the locals. He was commissioned to write a song for the victims of the Pike River by Wellington's Orpheus Choir.
Taking up the challenge, Dobbyn spent time in Greymouth with the families of the 29 miners lost in the explosion.
His resulting epic composition This Love was performed with the 160-strong choir in front of television cameras and an audience which included members of the families of Pike River victims. The resulting one-hour special is being broadcast on the fourth anniversary of the disaster. It also features intimate performances of other Dobbyn tunes and follows the singer-songwriter as he goes in search of inspiration for the tribute song and composes it. "I wrote this song as it gave me a purpose, a part to play.
But the song belongs to the families now; it's theirs, and I hope it gives them some comfort and hope"
