KIWI COUNTRY STARS 'MUSIC SAVED US!'

True love rarely begins in the back seat of a car - and if it does, it's usually not a tale for innocent ears. But for Rosie and Blair Shaw, better known as award-winning country music duo Rowdy's Rose, it was a shared invite and carpool with a mutual friend to their local pub's Christmas Eve celebrations 15 years ago that kicked off their love story.

- India Hendrikse

"We joke about being each other's Christmas present," smiles 41-year-old Rosie.

When the pair arrived at the bar in their hometown of Te Awamutu, Rosie bought Blair, 49, a drink and that's the moment he knew he'd met his future wife.

"It's rare for a woman to buy a guy a beer," muses Blair. "I turned to my friend and said, 'I could marry that girl!"

Their mutual love of music set the rhythm for a summer romance, before Blair jetted off to Canada on a one-way ticket and Rosie went travelling in Europe.

Yet it wasn't long before Blair realised his love for Rosie was too strong to justify the oceans between them.

"I bought a ring in Canada, flew home, then asked her to marry me the day I got back," he says.

Shares Rosie, "Our families say we're the male and female version of each other, because we've got the same sense of humour and believe in the same things. I recognise a lot of myself in Blair and when you find someone like that, it's special.”

Since then, not only have they set up home in Kihikihi, where they’re raising two boys, Jasper, 11, and Jesse, eight, but they've also created the country music duo Rowdy’s Rose.