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About
Poster Gallery
Video Gallery
Music Gallery
Bluegrass Community Info
CDs & DVDs
Want to perform at WBS ?
WBS MySpace Page
Poster Galleryrecent concert posters from the Wellington Bluegrass SocietyFriday 19 March 2010 - Society Night featuring Alistair & Catriona Cuthill Alistair likes the skirl of the fiddle. Catriona likes the drone. Himself just plays that fiddle graunchy or sweet, as he feels, depending on the tune. Catriona likes the plonkity-plunk of the banjo. Alistair likes the twang factor. Herself just frails that banjo like there's no tomorrow; old songs and tunes sent from heaven, some from hell, and a few new 'uns. Sunday 7th March 8:00pm - Concert featuring Richard Adams and Nigel Gavin Great music and art comes about by some kind of alchemy: it is the result of painstaking study, a rare mix of ingredients, the moment of inexplicable magic, a wondrous consequence revealed . . . Richard Adams and Nigel Gavin have worked like few other New Zealand musicians, crafting their art in rehearsal rooms and recording studios, and presented their magic in concert halls and to festival audiences at home, Australia, the US and in Europe. Violinist Adams is a gifted painter whose work has been exhibited internationally and who believes the visual and musical sides of his personality each set the other on fire. Richard has played for many years in the popular Nairobi Trio and co-founder of Neon Quaver. Guitarist Gavin is probably well known to more people than they realise: he has played with the Nairobi Trio, the Jews Brothers, Bravura, created the guitar orchestra Gitbox Rebellion, and has been on albums by Wayne Gillespie, Whirimako Black, and most notably with Robert Fripp. Here is that rare alchemy at work where each inspires the other, where melodies can twist on an emphasis, and the improvisation is instinctively taken in a new and rewarding direction. Friday 19 February 8:30 pm - Society night featuring Catherine BB Bowness & Alex Borwick What do you get if you get two banjos in the same room? Alex and BB play banjo is one answer of many. By combining the 5-string banjo and the Irish tenor banjo, BB Bowness and Alex Borwick have created a sound that calls upon their musical backgrounds including Bluegrass, Celtic, Jazz, and even Classical. They have proven that it IS possible to play two banjos in tune with each other, and they have even produced a few original compositions, which are undoubtedly a result of their varied influences. Saturday 13 February 8:00 pm - Concert featuring Jackie Bristow, Lauren Thomson and Tami Neilson What do you get when you mix the winner of this years’ Tui Award, a Silver Scroll nominee and the winner of an International Songwriting Competition? A divine and potent cocktail called “Saints and Sinners”. Internationally acclaimed female songsmiths Tami Neilson, Lauren Thomson and Jackie Bristow will be swapping songs and stories in front of audiences on a 12-date national tour in February 2010. This writers-in-the-round show will be an intimate acoustic evening, three solo artists joining forces on stage and sharing the experiences that inspired their songs, from opening for Johnny Cash and Art Garfunkel to touring from Canada to Europe, the USA to Japan. Drawing comparisons with Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, Patty Griffin and Roy Orbison, these women bring 3 unique voices together for a rare collaborative show. see Jackie's MySpace Lauren's MySpace Tami's MySpace for song samples and more information on Jackie, Lauren and Tami. Friday 15 January 8:30 pm - Society night featuring Chris Priestley & Phil Powers Chris Priestley and Julian McKean first met in 1982 when Chris was asked to play in an Auckland University folk concert and heard Julian and Denny Stanway singing with Sieffe La Trobe and from this the group Acoustic Confusion was born. Brendan Power then joined us and we focused on New Zealand songs, including some from a fine young songwriter we had met called Phil Powers. We did a couple of Radio New Zealand shows with Phil before he headed overseas to make his fortune. In 1987 Phil. Julian and I were reunited and did a few concerts also with Brendan Power before he headed off overseas to make his fortune. Julian then moved to Wellington and Phil to Whangamata and here we are 22 years later still singing, writing and enjoying beautiful harmonies. Friday 18 December 8:30 pm - Society Night featuring Matt Hay and the Makers
Matt Hay & the Makers are: Matt Hay on guitar, harmonica and vocals; Clint Meech on keyboard and vocals and Phil Hope on mandolin and vocals. Their set of mainly originals penned by Matt will include songs from Matt’s recently released CD "Inside Stories". You can expect to hear a little bit of country, a little bit of blues and a whole lot of suburban soul - rootsy Americana relationship based songs - good, bad, intimate & personal. Friday 20 November 8:30 pm - Society Night featuring Off The Hook
Off The Hook formed in early 2007 and features multi instrumentalists Phil Hope, Steve Hooke and John Broadbent. Their music is drawn from jazz & blues covers - Georgie Fame, Van Morrison to name a few, and a selection of quirky original songs with a dark country flavour - penned by Phil and John. Their line-up includes an array of instruments made up of acoustic guitars, mandolin, harmonicas, flute, sax, electric bass and snare drum and also features three part harmonies. Friday 16 October 8:30 pm - Society Night featuring Dave Murphy
Dave has been playing the blues since he was fifteen, however it was a trip to Australia six years later that he developed an appreciation of early finger style blues. He was influenced by blues musicians such as Mississippi John Hurt, Rev. Gary Davis, Big Bill Broonzy and Robert Johnson, but always retained his own individual style. He never stops listening to the likes of Muddy Waters, J. B. Lenoir, Jimmy Rogers, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Sonny Boy Nelson (Eugene Powell), Hambone Willie Newbern and many more. Friday 18 September 8:30 pm - Society Night featuring Helena Triplett
Helena sings and plays traditional music from the Appalachian Mountain region of America. She spent 10 years in West Virginia soaking up the music and styles of the area. She has performed at festivals and led banjo and singing workshops at events from North Carolina to upstate New York. These included the Augusta Heritage Center, Clifftop Appalachian Music Festival and the West Virginia State Folk Festival, both as a solo act and as a member of the award winning old-time string band "The Raincrows". She was also lead singer of "The Raging Acorns" whose final radio show performance was acclaimed by the producer as uniquely authentic old time music. She has also performed at the Auckland Folk Festival, The Hamilton Easter Music Festival and... Saturday 29 August 8:00 pm - Concert featuring The Windy City Strugglers
It is now 40 years since Australian expatriate Bill Lake formed The Windy City Strugglers for a performance at the 1968 National Folk Festival in Wellington - his adopted home. They have gone on to become one of New Zealand’s longest surviving bands, defying the passage of time and the laws of probability, to find a popular niche in the new millennium. Their music is a unique amalgam of blues, soul and folk - American roots with a South Seas sensibility. It revolves around the singing and songwriting of Bill Lake and Rick Bryant, enhanced by the multi-instrumental skills of Andrew Delahunty, Nick Bollinger, and Steve Jessup, plus a long-established auxiliary of supporting musicians. Friday 21 August 8:30 pm - Society Night featuring Rosy Tin Teacaddy Billy and Betty have sung together since they were youngsters - and it shows. In early 2007 the duo launched themselves as Rosy Tin Teacaddy and became quickly established on the Wellington music radar. The pair’s debut EP ‘Blind Leading the Blind’ was snapped up by gleeful fans who have since clamoured for their full-length album ‘The Homeward Stretch’. Worn out shoes, dusty jackets, two guitars and two voices. The duo charm the pants off audiences with their engaging live shows featuring cleverly crafted songs and hauntingly close vocal harmonies. Friday 17 July 8:30 pm - Society Night featuring Miriam Clancy Miriam Clancy is pleased to announce her 6 week nationwide tour to celebrate the release of her new single 'When I Do'. It is the first single from her upcoming second album "Magnetic" that is due for release later this year. Starting mid July, with guitars and the Wurlitzer stashed in the boot, Miriam Clancy's 'lo-fi' tour will see her in many of NZ’s small towns and outlying venues of our cities. Miriam will play some of the songs from her debut album 'Lucky One' and from her upcoming sophomore album 'Magnetic'. The first single ‘When I Do’ is now available for download via Amplifier. This tour features Miriam performing in intimate settings and provides a great opportunity to hear the new songs and old favourites as they were written - stripped to their bare bones. see Miriam Clancy MySpace for song samples and more information on Miriam. Friday 19 June 8:30 pm - Society Night featuring Dixie Lix Dixie Lix - our very own Wellington Bluegrass and Americana band. Local band Dixie Lix have been playing their style of music around the Wellington region for about seven years. Dixie Lix are an acoustic country and bluegrass band with a repertoire ranging from traditional music to songs from more recent artists. Dixie Lix also cover songs from, modern artists such as Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell, Alison Krauss, Dixie Chicks & Anika Moa. The band have written original material with bass player Paul being the most prolific. The lineup includes Wayne Robinson on banjo and guitar; Wanda Menchi plays mandolin and guitar and adds additional colour with accordion; Garrett Evans plays guitar and dobro and Paul Bengree holds down the bottom end and rhythm with his acoustic, upright bass. All four members sing with four part harmonies featured. Sunday 14 June 8:00 pm - Concert featuring Richard Adams and Nigel Gavin Richard, fiddle player for Nairobi Trio and Nigel - man of many talents and well known to WBS audiences. Great music and art comes about by some kind of alchemy: it is the result of painstaking study, a rare mix of ingredients, the moment of inexplicable magic, a wondrous consequence revealed... Richard Adams and Nigel Gavin have worked like few other New Zealand musicians, crafting their art in rehearsal rooms and recording studios, and presented their magic in concert halls and to festival audiences at home, Australia, the US and in Europe. This tour brings together both the artistic adventures as well as the fun music Richard and Nigel have played and sung over the past years with the Nairobi Trio and the Jews Brothers. Saturday 23 May 8:00 pm - Concert featuring Tami Neilson Tami, on her NZ tour, performing her acoustic, folk and country music with influences from her Canadian homeland and New Zealand and Nashville. Tami was raised in Canada, by parents with a closet full of sequined stage costumes and platform shoes. She grew up in a house where amplifiers and guitar cases were just as much a part of the furniture as chairs and tables, and when most kids are still singing nursery rhymes in the bathtub, Tami was travelling across North America in a 34 foot motor home, performing professionally in their family band "The Neilsons." After headlining "The Canadian Invasion" Tour to promote the release of her debut solo album, 'Red Dirt Angel', which included the single "Sister Cash", a duet with Joanne Cash, Tami is back in 2009 with her 2nd CD, 'The Kitchen Table Sessions', releasing and touring the project in both NZ and Canada Friday 15 May 8:30 pm - Society Night featuring David Calder David Calder has been singing and playing folk and country music since the early sixties - solo, in duos & with the Hamilton County Bluegrass Band. He specialises in New Zealand folk songs and originals, and in songs with a country flavour, playing guitar, banjo and mandolin. Blessed with a strong tenor voice and a sense of humour, David is bound to leave you feeling well entertained. Saturday 9 May 8:00 pm - Concert featuring ReinTarNayshun "ReInTarNayshun: Take four acoustic musicians with varied backgrounds, styles and tastes. Toss in some jazz, funk, dawg, classical, rock, bluegrass. Add a generous dollop of strings, wood, and curls. Puree on high in a time traveling blender to the future, past and back. Garnish with a bass, cello, banjo and mandolin, season with a bit of vocal harmony and prepare to be ReInTarNated. ReInTarNayshun: Lott: bass, guitar, vocals Emily Giles: cello, vocals BB Bowness: banjo, vocal (yes, only one) Micheal Young: mandolin, guitar, vocals" Friday 17 April 8:30 pm - Society Night featuring the Proximity Trio
This trio consists of Graham Lovejoy and Frank Sillay, who have been indulging their musical desires jointly and severally for between eighty and a hundred man-years. Despite being a trained musican, Graham has long been fascinated with the mandolin family, particularly mandolins and banjo-mandolins. He has pursued this interest with many bands over the years, including the Stoney Creek Ramblers, The Hamilton County Bluegrass Band, the Antipodean Serenaders, and many others. Frank Sillay has a thick skin, and will not take no for an answer, so has been able to play with many proper musicians, like Graham, in bands like the Buckhead Strugglers, Sylvester Turk, and the Antipodean Serenaders. Saturday 4 April 8:00 pm - Concert featuring Helen Dorothy
"American folk and country styles filled much listening and playing time through college years with friends, her vocals never more than harmonies. During this time a couple of songs were co-penned. There then followed a creative void, largely because she felt she couldn't sing alone. Her guitar delivered little, and collected dust. Helen Dorothy moved to New Zealand in 1996, bought a second-hand guitar, and waited patiently for some way to get the music out of her. This time the musical creativity was suppressed by circumstance, although working in remote and far-flung places gave her space to work on her guitar style, and the breath-taking locations and associated wildlife were later to inspire much of her song-writing. On re-entering civilisation, and settling near Wellington, she at last discovered a vibrant acoustic music scene where she could finally crank up a performing ability, write the stuff that she really wanted to play and sing about, and expose this material to willing local audiences! Friday 20 March 8:30 pm - Society Night featuring Darren Watson
In a career spanning three decades Darren Watson has worked alongside such blues luminaries as Robert Cray, Koko Taylor, George Thorogood, Billy Boy Arnold, Doug MacLeod, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Dr. John and Keb Mo . . to name just a few. He has been nominated six times for NZ Music Awards for a body of recorded work that includes two Top 40 albums and singles with legendary Kiwi blues outfit Chicago Smoke Shop, and three critically acclaimed solo albums including 2002's Tui nominated 'King Size', and 2005's stunning and genre breaking 'South Pacific Soul'. Saturday 28 February 8:00 pm - Concert featuring Coolgrass
Coolgrass enjoy straight bluegrass, but prefer their bluegrass to be a bit bent. In addition to their own songs and parodies, Coolgrass tackle the likes of Mozart, Mancini, Chuck Berry, Queen, Duke Ellington and many more in a tongue-firmly-in-cheek bluegrass style. They're based in Melbourne (Australia, not Florida) and can be found causing musical mayhem at various folk and bluegrass festivals. They've been busy in the studio - their 2004 CD "Toad Rage" has recently been joined by a new recording: "Jaguar Breakdown" in honour of Jim's "reliable" old car. 2009: Coolgrass look forward to making lots of new friends, and raising a few new eyebrows, on their forthcoming tour of New Zealand. Friday 20 February 8:30 pm - Society Night featuring The Valley Stompers
"The Valley Stompers started on 1st April 1970 with a rehearsal at the Randwick Archery Club building in Petone. It started as a 6 piece with Ray Heath as Leader on clarinet, Mike Green on trumpet, George Watson on trombone, Max Winnie on banjo and guitar, Colin Heath (Ray?s brother) on bass, and Peter Harrison on drums. Vince Gray joined a year later on alto sax and clarinet. It regularly performs at mainly private functions. Trad Jazz is a toe-tapping music, requiring a bit of teamwork, and great fun to play. We hope you enjoy it." Friday 12 December 8:30 pm - Society Night featuring Confluence
"We enjoy dusting off old tunes from rural traditions in order to carry on A Cappella folk singing. We are drawn to ballads from the English countryside - especially Sussex, as well as songs from the Appalachian region, where we were raised. Our repertoire also includes sea shanties, drinking songs, and hymns from the American shape note tradition. As none of us are professionally trained musicians, we don"t affect our voices and rarely employ vibrato. We prefer the raw vocal style in which most of our material was originally sung. Ultimately, we don"t consider ourselves performers, rather we sing to pass the time together and to share the music that we have learned, maintaining a fine oral tradition." Saturday 22 Nov 8:00 pm - Concert featuring Nick Charles
Since his last visit to New Zealand in late 2007, Nick has toured Australia wide, performing at all the major folk, blues and jazz festivals. In October he returned from a sixth successive annual tour of the USA with concerts and festivals in the major cities of the mid-west and south-west where he has a substantial and growing following. This WBS concert featured the new album, "Closer To Home" with 10 new original tracks. As always Nick?s concerts encompass the vast range and stylistic variations of roots music. The fingerstyle blues and ragtime of the 20?s and 30?s, the iconic country picking of Doc, Merle and Chet and the lyric and melodic foundation of the great country blues songbook. Friday 21 Nov 8:30 pm - Society Night featuring Tandrom
Society night featuring sets from Simon Burgess and Tandrom - the Gypsy music duo of Simon Burgess and Fiona Smythe. Saturday 8 Nov 8:00 pm - Concert featuring The RFD Boys
The RFD Boys have been delighting Ann Arbor audiences since 1969 with their fabulous musicianship and sly, exquisitely timed between-song humour. With an appearance on the cover of Bluegrass Unlimited, with songs recorded by the likes of The Country Gentlemen, and with performances alongside bluegrass greats like Bill Monroe and Ralph Stanley, the RFD Boys are a part of America's bluegrass tradition. One of southeastern Michigan's most durable musical ensembles, they're very much a local tradition, too. Thursday 16 October 8:00 p.m. - Concert featuring Wardrop & Valdy
Graham Wardrop (NZ) and Valdy (Canada) link opposite ends of the Pacific Ocean via the medium of fine song-writing, virtuoso guitar playing and tight harmony singing. Friday 19 September 2008 - 'Had a Good Run'WBS Society Night 8:30 p.m.
Sunday 31 August 2008 - The Jews Brothers BandWBS Concert 8:00 p.m.
Friday 18 July 2008 - Helena Triplett & friendsWBS Society night 8:30 p.m. Saturday 24 May 2008 - The CattlestopsWBS Concert night 8:00 p.m. featuring
the Cattlestops featuring Colleen Trenwith straight from the mountains of Tennessee.
A great value night of Texas Swing, Bluegrass and American Roots music
and more
Friday 16 May 2008 - Dixie LixWBS Society night 8:30 p.m. featuring Dixie Lix
Saturday 5 April 2008WBS Concert night 8:00 p.m. featuring Johnny Possums Good Time Hootin' Band from Christchurch A great value night of Bluegrass and American Roots music and more
Friday 11 January 2008WBS Concert night 8:00 p.m. featuring Fiddlesticks and Twisted Oak (and BB). A great double value night of Bluegrass and fiddle music and more
Friday 14 December 2007WBS Society night 8:30 p.m. featuring Original Banjo Melodies
Saturday 24 November 2007
Contact Us: Andrew
(use your normal mail system to contact the "paradise.net.nz" address) (and, note, the venue address is not the mailing address for WBS - contact by email for that information) |
