WBS National Treasures are
Winnie Winston
Frank Sillay
Colleen Trenwith
Graham Lovejoy
Canadian Sisters
Ian Thompson
Tony Larsen
Garrett Evans
Julian Ward
Jim Delahunty
Don Franks
Influences
Authentic music and musicians of all sorts including Bluegrass and Roots music in the widest possible interpretations.
There have been literally hundreds of performers over the years, featured in concerts and floor spots, sometimes in many guises, and on occasion in disguise too.
It would be impossible to list them all, so will just list the past year performers, to give some indication of the variety and talent which the audience have seen and heard.
Lauren Thomson Achilles Botes Dixie Lix Nigel Gavin
Carol Bean and the Mt Misery Bluegrass Band (Costa Botes, Richard Klein, Andrew Bicknell, Andrew Delahunty)
Antipodean Serenaders
Brent Parlane Don Franks & Jill Brasell
Streetworthy Cloghoppers Cattlestops
Laura Collins Kerry Turner
and a long list to be put in here later ....
Sounds Like
Real music and lots of fun for performers and listeners alike.
CDs currently available through WBS include
Winnie Winston "Misty Morn" Martha Louise "Journey" Pitt Ramsay"Tell Me" Antipodean Serenaders
"Snake Oil"
"By the Watermelon Vine"
Send a message via MySpace for ordering details
or email to bluegrass(at)paradise.net.nz
Friday 18 December 8:30 pm Society Night - 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 15 January 8:30 pm - Society night featuring Chris
Priestley & Phil Powers.
$10 members or children.
Saturday 13 February 8:00 pm - Concert featuring
Jackie Bristow, Lauren Thomson and Tami Neilson
These women bring 3 unique voices together for a rare collaborative
show. $20, $15 members or children.
Friday 19 February 8:30 pm - Society night featuring Catherine BB Bowness & Alex Borwick
BB & Alex have proven that it IS possible to play two banjos
in tune with each other and promise NO banjo jokes!
$10 members or children.
=========== some previous concerts below =============
Fri 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.
Fri 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.
Fri 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...
Sat 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.
see
Windy City Website for song samples and much more information on The Windy City Strugglers.
Fri 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. From heart aching ballads to foot stomping sing-alongs Billy and Betty keep you on your toes. The duo charm the pants off audiences with their engaging live shows featuring cleverly crafted songs and hauntingly close vocal harmonies.
Fri 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'.
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.
Fri 19 June 8:30 pm Society Night featuring Dixie Lix
WBS Society night with Dixie Lix - our very own 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.
Sun 14 June 8:00 pm Concert featuring Richard Adams and Nigel Gavin
WBS Concert with Richard Adams fiddle player for Nairobi Trio and Nigel Gavin - 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.
Sat 23 May 8:00 pm Concert featuring Tami Neilson
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
Fri 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.
Sat 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.
Fri 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.
Sat 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!
The making of a CD, she says, is about cleaning out the attic, so to speak,
to make room for fresh material. It is also about making the opportunity to
play with others-a real challenge for any solo artist well settled into a
solitary comfort zone! By recruiting some very fine local musicians who
sensitively weave their magic through her lyrics and music, Helen Dorothy
feels that her songs have been lifted to a whole different level."
Fri 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'.
Sat 28 Feb 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.
see
Coolgrass MySpace for song samples and more information on Coolgrass.
Fri 20 Feb 8:30 pm Society Night featuring The Valley Stompers
Fri 12 Dec 8:30 pm Society Night featuring Confluence
Old tunes from rural traditions in A Cappella folk singing - including ballads from the English countryside - especially Sussex, as well as songs from the Appalachian region, where they were raised. Their repertoire also includes sea shanties, drinking songs, and hymns from the American shape note tradition. A raw vocal style in which most or their material was originally sung.
Sat 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 concert at the WBS featured his new album, "Closer To Home". "Closer to Home" features 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.
Fri 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.
Sat 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.
WBS Society Night
17 Oct 2008 at 8:30 p.m. - Legal Tender Legal Tender is based around the duo Ian Campbell and Moira Howard. The lineup varies subject to the venue, occasion and availability of performers.
For this gig Ian and Moira were joined by Carylan Martin on accordian.
WBS Concert 16 October 2008 at 8:00 p.m.
Wardrop & Valdy
featured Graham Wardrop (NZ) and Valdy (Canada) who link opposite ends of the Pacific Ocean via the medium of fine song-writing, virtuoso guitar playing and tight harmony singing.
WBS Society Night 19 September 2008 at 8:30 p.m.
Had a Good Run
featured Peter Dyer, Jack MacKenzie and Allen Castleton playing a variety of originals and covers in American Folk, Country Western, Bluegrass and Swing.
Concert - The Jews Brothers Band 31 August 2008 at 8:00 p.m.
A welcome return from Linn, Hershal, Nigel, Peter and their new member of the group.
Society Night - Helena Triplett & friends 18 July 2008 at 8:30 p.m. Helena is one of NZ's exponents on frailing banjo on a return visit to the WBS. Come and hear this banjo pickin' girl supported by a suitably talented cast.
Concert - Cattlestops - with Colleen Trenwith - 24 May 2008
(see the Cattlestops Website)
The Wellington Bluegrass Society (WBS) has been in existence for 18 years. From the beginning the emphasis has been on providing authentic (mainly acoustic) music in many genres - for a fun, friendly and supportive audience of music lovers.
All meetings are held at 54 Richmond Street, Petone, adjacent to the Petone Community Library - the best little acoustic venue around!
Plenty of parking in the John Peel Public Carpark.
Tea, coffee, quality cakes, biscuits and slices are all provided free. A licensed kitchen allows you to purchase a glass of wine, beer or soft drink.
WBS Society nights - usually 3rd Friday of the month year round, 8:30 p.m. $10 per adult - $5 children
Other concerts are scheduled during the year - with details notified to everyone on the WBS mailing list.
The easiest way to be reminded of all events is to sign up for the mailing list - please send your request to be put on the list via a MySpace Message - or if not a MySpace member you can use your normal email to
bluegrass(at)paradise.net.nz. Provide your email address or other way you would like to be contacted.
Thanks for finding a little space in your heart for a yodeling banjo player. Yours Cordially, Curtis P. Eller --- Curtis Eller's American Circus www.curtiseller.com
Online Now!