Long before being dubbed New Zealand’s queen of the banjo, Jenny Blackadder was recommended to Christchurch rocker Max Merritt for a spot in his band. The only problem was The Meteors didn’t think having a female in the group would fit their image.

Tommy Kahi was the city’s leading guitar teacher in the early 1960s and Blackadder was his top student. But when Max Merritt called on Kahi for the cream of his crop and found out she was a young blonde girl, he invited “second-best” Peter Williams to join The Meteors on guitar instead.