Tracie de Jong - The Longest Day (1993)

When her first single, "Living Together, Learning Together," written for a New Zealand-based organization for people with physical disabilities, became a hit, Tracie de Jong was on her way to becoming one of the top singer/songwriters in the Southern Hemisphere.

Collaborating with her singer/songwriter husband, Brian, since the late-'80s, de Jong has since released two impressive albums of her folk- and blues-influenced songs. Several tunes from her 1993 debut album, The Longest Day, co-written with her husband and lyricist Kieran Martin, have been featured on the New Zealand TV drama Shortland Street. De Jong worked with vocalist/guitarist Derek Jacombs and his New Zealand-based acoustic blues band, Kokomo Blues, when she recorded her second album, Stramboling, in early 1995. Held up by numerous manufacturing delays, the album was released a year later.