Two of Christchurch’s favourite globetrotting songwriters Andrew Keoghan and Flip Grater, will present a very special homecoming show April 21, performing songs from their recently released, critically acclaimed albums.

Blue Smoke will be open from 5pm and serving up The Brewery’s wood fired pizza and hand crafted Cassels & Sons beer all night long.

Doors for the show will be at 7:30pm

The show will get underway at 8pm.

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It’s Los Angeles-based Keoghan’s first outing in the garden city since his LP Every Orchid Offering was released last year.

‘If anything, it reminds me of David Bowie’s similarly genreless ★ or the work of Kirin J Callinan, but possessed by an exquisite chamber-pop grace befitting Grizzly Bear or Dirty Projectors’. – Stereogum

Keoghan will be joined by drummer Alistair Deverick (Neil Finn, Lawrence Arabia) and bassist Cass Basil (Tiny Ruins).

For Flip Grater, the evening marks a welcome return to the stage after a year’s maternity leave. She’ll perform a slew of news songs and those from 2014’s Pigalle.

‘The fourth album from the New Zealander is beguilingly peaceful and impresses, with little auditory adventures that reflect her chosen home of Paris and also her artistic integrity’ – Rolling Stone Germany

Catch this rare opportunity to see Josh Pyke live at Blue Smoke.

Blue Smoke will be open from 5pm and serving up The Brewery’s wood fired pizza and hand crafted Cassels & Sons beer all night long.

Doors for the show will be at 8pm

The show will get underway around 8:30pm

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Celebrating his most recent album But For All These Shrinking Hearts which debut at #2 in the ARIA charts, Pyke is heading across the sea to New Zealand for a small run of dates.

Pyke is a big fan of New Zealand and has been itching to get across with his music for a while. “I’ve had two of the best holidays of my life in NZ, but it’s been 10 years since I’ve toured my music here, so I’m super keen to head back! Culturally and aesthetically I think it’s a hard place to beat. “ says Pyke.

Last year was a busy year for Pyke, along with multiple Australian tours, and launching his own beer in partnership with Young Henry’s, the singer songwriter released a live album in conjunction with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra recorded at Sydney’s iconic Opera house, which he later picked up the Best Original Soundtrack/Cast/Show Album ARIA for.

With 5 studio albums and so many singalongs under his belt, be sure to catch one of Australia’s favourite storytellers, Josh Pyke at one of his upcoming New Zealand shows to experience this songsmith captivate his audience with songs from the most recent album along with old favourites.

Join Jon Toogood this April as he takes his solo acoustic show throughout New Zealand.

Blue Smoke will be open from 5pm and serving up The Brewery’s wood fired pizza and hand crafted Cassels & Sons beer all night long.

Doors for the show will be at 7:30pm

The show will get underway around 8pm.

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In between sessions for a new ADULTS album, Jon will take his hit filled sets on a musical road trip around the country.

Featuring solo, acoustic versions of some of Jons favourite songs (both his own and some handpicked cover versions from his vast collection) and with venues around the country being transformed into seated intimate spaces – don’t miss your chance to get up close and personal with one of New Zealand’s most revered singer/songwriters and front men.

With special guests Blair Parks ‘Cardigan Bay’ and Ryan Fisherman.

Blue Smoke will be open from 3pm and serving up The Brewery’s wood fired pizza and hand crafted Cassels & Sons beer all night long.

Doors for the show will be at 7:30pm

The show will get underway around 8pm

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For the first time new Melbournian duo This Way North hit New Zealand’s shores. The guitar/drums two-piece This Way North are Leisha Jungalwalla (Jungal) and Cat Leahy (Sal Kimber & the Rollin’ Wheel).

Punchy and left of centre, but with a universally appealing groove and melody, This Way North’s live shows are powerful. Cat brings solid groove based, dynamic power drumming, while Leisha sways with swampy slide guitar, slimmed down soul vocals and compelling alt-pop melodies.

Sometimes likened to The Black Keys, Tame Impala and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, their unique musical connection creates an explosive sound that’s rarely realised by just two artists on stage. Audiences are drawn in by the powerful performances of these two seasoned musicians. The moment This Way North embrace the stage the audience engage – that’s just how it is.

http://www.thiswaynorth.com/

yan Fisherman is a multi-instrumentalist best known as the drummer for Doprah and bassist for Nakey; however over the last few years he has been steadily building up a back catalogue of independent work and has gained a firm foothold in the Christchurch folk scene.

https://ryanfisherman.bandcamp.com/releases

‘Cardigan Bay’ is the latest release from New Brighton-based Blair Parkes.

Parkes various bands have enjoyed airplay on student radio since the mid-1980s. He is an early Flying Nun alumni (All Fall Down, The Letter 5). Other releases have appeared on Failsafe and Wrong Records.

“You can hear Parkes’ love of lush melodic pop. He layers his gentle, tuneful vocals, then swathes them in reverbs, creating the harmonic landscape of a late-60s soft-rock record.” – Nick Bollinger, Radio New Zealand.
https://blairparkes.bandcamp.com/

Blue Smoke will be open from 5pm and serving up The Brewery’s wood fired pizza and hand crafted Cassels & Sons beer all night long.

Doors for the show will be at 8pm

Music will get underway around 8:30pm

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BLIND BOY PAXTON RETURNS TO NZ FOR TWO SHOWS IN APRIL

See him perform an intimate concert at Blue Smoke on Wednesday 5th April, tickets available from undertheradar. Tickets will be strictly limited to ensure a comfortable listening environment.

Blind Boy Paxton is a modern day songster, minstrel and bluesman. His name is Jerron (say Jer-Ron as in Geronimo) but you call him Blind Boy. Blind Boy Paxton is the living embodiment of the true blues in the twenty-first century, but plays it all in the true songster tradition: ragtime, hokum, old time, French reels, Appalachian mountain music, blues and lots more.

The multi faceted, physically gigantic, three hundred pound, legally blind, orthodox Jew is only in his late twenties but has earned a reputation for transporting audiences back to the 1920s and making them wish they could stay. He sings and plays the banjo, guitar, piano, fiddle, harmonica, Cajun accordion, and the bones. He has the eerie ability to transform traditional jazz, blues, folk, and country into the here and now, and make it real.

Jerron says “Believe me, the blues is not some half-dead thing hooked up to a respirator. It’s as relevant now as it ever was. Hip Hop is just a newer form of my people’s expression, and the blues is an older one. Ain’t nothing new under the sun. The roots of the tree don’t cast no shadow, but they hold up everything above.”

He can mesmerise audiences with his humour and story-telling . Not only wowing local audiences last year he also took time to charm the local media

Kim Hill on Radio NZ … http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/201791995/jerron-‘blind-boy’-paxton-bringing-back-the-past

Performing for TVNZ under a Brown’s Bay walnut tree http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2016/03/blind-boy-paxton-blues-music-staunchest-champion.html

As well as an interesting chat with Grant Smithies http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/music/77413774/jerron-blind-boy-paxton-talks-about-the-roots-of-the-blues

www.blindboypaxton.net

https://www.facebook.com/JerronBlindBoyPaxton/

Blue Smoke will be open from 5pm and serving up The Brewery’s wood fired pizza and hand crafted Cassels & Sons beer all night long.

Doors for the show will be at 7:30pm

Music will get underway around 8pm with an opening set from bare knuckled balladairs The Broken Heartbreakers.

Nadia Reid will take the night on home performing songs old and new with a full band in celebration of her eagerly anticipated new album ‘Preservation’.

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“Reid is a remarkably talented, assured, clever and confident singer-songwriter….. a devastating youthful wisdom that gives her songs a feeling of lasting profundity.” – The Guardian (UK)

“For a new artist, her confident grace is all the more remarkable” – Pitchfork

“A young New Zealand singer-songwriter you’ll feel you’ve known forever” – MOJO

Self-discovery doesn’t come easy. It’s usually a rite of passage to get burned before the wounds can heal and often takes a new perspective to truly understand yourself. 18 months and 10,000kms travelled since many needles first dropped on her debut LP Listen To Formation Look For The Signs, it’s safe to say with her second album Preservation, Nadia Reid now knows herself extremely well.

“Preservation’ is about the point I started to love myself again. It is about strength, observation and sobriety,” Nadia says. “It’s about when I could see the future again. When the world was good again. When music was realised as my longest standing comfort.”

An ode to self-reflection and self-betterment, Preservation is the sound of Nadia showing her true colours, taking back a bit of power, and learning more about herself. Deeply intellectual but felt by all, it punches harder than before. Nadia’s beautifully warm vocals coolly wrap around feelings of turbulence, and exude a gently improved confidence. “This record is about being OK with who I am in the world, and who I want to be. Learning to live with the fact I’m a person who operates differently to others,” admits Nadia. “I’m richer for the fact I am a musician. Without this way of being, I couldn’t write songs.”

Metropolis Touring and Magic are proud to present THE ANIMALS with support from Brendan Gregg & Band.

Blue Smoke will be open from 6pm and serving up The Brewery’s wood fired pizza and hand crafted Cassels & Sons beer all night long.

Doors at 8pm.

The Animals were “one of the most important bands” in the British Invasion. Whilst The Beatles and Rolling Stones were the headliners, The Animals were the back bone of blues!

With their legacy undeniable, New Zealand is in for a treat when original members John Steel and Micky Gallagher along with Danny Handley and Roberto Ruiz bring The Animals live experience to New Zealand.

“The band has changed, but the songs remain eternal” (The Independent)

For more information, visit the Metropolis Touring website

Blue Smoke will be open from 5pm and serving up The Brewery’s wood fired pizza and hand crafted Cassels & Sons beer all night long.

Doors for the show will be at 8pm

Music will get underway around 8:30pm with an opening set from Stef T.

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Internationally-renowned Christchurch singer-songwriter SACHA VEE, takes her new album LUMINOUS on the road this March, as she performs live across five New Zealand centres.

Hailing from Christchurch, Sacha Vee has spent the last few years making a name for herself in Europe. While in Amsterdam, she teamed up with Dutch producers Killing Skills and Chef Red and released two EPs with BBE Records, RISING ONE (2015) and GING REMIX EP (2016). Her collaboration with Polish hip-hop luminary O.S.T.R. produced 3 hit singles, 2 x double platinum albums and more than 20 million views on YouTube.

Her latest album, LUMINOUS, features the singles ‘Stonecold’, ‘Feels Good’ and latest single, ‘Monday’.

Sacha Vee has played support slots for the likes of Jhene Aiko, G-Eazy and Hollie Smithand in 2011 she was a finalist in the TV talent show, The Voice of Holland.

Blue Smoke will be open from 5pm and serving up The Brewery’s wood fired pizza and hand crafted Cassels & Sons beer all night long.

Doors for the show will be at 8pm

Music will get underway around 8:30pm with an opening set from our very own local county swooner Katie Thompson.

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Jackie Bristow is pleased to announce she will be returning to her native shores in March with Australian musician and long-time collaborator Mark Punch.

From the Northern reaches of Leigh to the southern depths of Invercargill, Jackie’s tour culminates in Wellington and Auckland where she will open for legendary blues singer-songwriter Bonnie Raitt.

At once heartfelt and sophisticated, Jackie’s songs combine subtle but beautiful melodies and hooks that hypnotise the listener, then sticking around like the backbone of a real friend.

Her 2016 album Shot Of Gold was released in New Zealand and the U.S. and garnered high praise with American magazine Vents calling it ‘simply stunning’ and Graham Reid from NZ Herald awarding it 4 stars.

Jackie’s live performances captivate audiences, her soulful voice, well crafted songs and natural command of the room a testament to the commitment to her craft and to the many concert halls, festivals, and listening rooms she has played.

In 2016 Bristow was honoured to tour parts of the USA, opening for Tommy Emmanueland the Steve Miller Band and she has previously played support for such legendary names as Rick Springfield, Phoebe Snow, Bonnie Raitt and Art Garfunkel to name a few.

Don’t miss the opportunity to catch her in a town near you.

Blue Smoke will be open from 5pm and serving up The Brewery’s wood fired pizza and hand crafted Cassels & Sons beer all night long.

Doors for the show will be at 8pm

Music will get underway around 8:30pm with an opening set from Secret Knives.
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Coming with the late last rays of summer, dream pop band French for Rabbits are touring New Zealand this March and April to beckon in the autumn. The tour will coincide with the release of their second album The Weight of Melted Snow. It is an album of weight, seeped in ghosts, memories, a yearning. It is an album of halves. On one side, the heartache of a relationship coming to an end, and on the other, a healing and an understanding that things will be okay.

Having toured extensively through Europe, opening for admired songwriter Agnes Obel, featuring twice on The Vampire Diaries, and garnering millions of listens online, French for Rabbits have been found by kindred music lovers worldwide. The New Zealand tour will take the band from Leigh to Queenstown with a special hometown show in Waikuku Beach at the local hall. They will be performing with an expanded five-piece line-up and their most expansive, cinematic sound to date.

French for Rabbits formed in 2011, when Singer and Fitzgerald began writing and recording

lo-fi demos of ambient dream-folk in the small coastal township of Waikuku Beach. Now Wellington-based, they are joined by drummer Hikurangi Schaverien-Kaa (Glass Vaults), multi-instrumentalists Ben Lemi (Trinity Roots) and Penelope Esplin.

The band’s previous recordings include Spirits (2014) released on Lefse Records, and six song EP Claimed by the Sea (2012).

Secret Knives, whose rare performances are meticulous and dreamy in equal part, will be joining tour. The recording project of Ash Smith – his album ‘Affection’ released back in 2010 is brilliant effects-laden shoegaze.

Hauraki presents Elemeno P live at Blue Smoke!

Blue Smoke will be open from 5pm and serving up The Brewery’s wood fired pizza and hand crafted Cassels & Sons beer all night long.

Doors for the show will be at 8:30pm

Elemeno P will take the stage around 9:30pm

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It’s fifteen years since pop-rock legends Elemeno P appeared on the New Zealand music scene with debut single Fast Times in Tahoe and now the band is reconvening for headline shows in Auckland and Christchurch in March, following their appearance at Wellington’s Homegrown festival.

Fast Times in Tahoe was the first singalong-able hit to work its way into the kiwi consciousness, followed up by many others including Verona, Every Day’s A Saturday and the “I’m gonna be late” earworm 11:57. The band’s triple-platinum first album LOVE and DISRESPECT debuted at #1 in the New Zealand Charts and Elemeno P were awarded Best Group at the 2006 New Zealand Music Awards.

It was the live Elemeno P experience that truly stood out, with skillful playing and showmanship honed by relentless touring, bringing an infectiously fun live show to fans in every corner of the country. Now they’re gathering from New York, LA and… Auckland to bring their unforgettable earworms back for one final show at the Auckland’s Kings Arms Tavern and to Blue Smoke in Christchurch for the first time.

Get in quick for a guaranteed feel good night out.

Blue Smoke will be open from 5pm and serving up The Brewery’s wood fired pizza and hand crafted Cassels & Sons beer all night long.

Doors for the show will be at 8pm

Music will get underway around 8:30pm with an opening performance from local soulstress Sayae.

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Sam Manzanza has performed his infectious brand of authentic African music to audiences all over the globe. His knowledge of traditional rhythms has been honed by years spent with the national ballet of Zaire ( DR Congo ) under Ray Lema.

Manzanza is largely responsible for the popularization of traditional and modern Africa music in New Zealand. He has enlivened and enchanted many ceremonial occasions at such places as The Beehive, Government House and the Auckland Commonwealth Drum Festival.

A versatile instrumentalist, composer and singer, Sam Manzanza plays blues harp, guitar and percussion and sings in French, English and Lingala. He will be performing with world renown Djembe percussionist, Koffie Fugah and the magnificent Afro Beat Band.

Starting the evening off will be Sayae. Sade Hutana-Sanders is a well rounded musical force. Her sultry, smokey voice has been featured on tracks by various producers and in contexts ranging from jazz, soul, and funk to D’n’B and beyond.

Blue Smoke will be open from 5pm and serving up The Brewery’s wood fired pizza and hand crafted Cassels & Sons beer all night long.

Doors for the show will be at 8pm.

Music will get underway around 8:30pm with an opening set from Laura Lee Lovely.

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March, 2017, South Island NZ: Fraser Ross and 04s are touring in the South Island to promote the release of the single, BBC from their forthcoming album which will grace stores physical and digital later this year.

The single, ‘BBC’ was recorded in Wellington’s, The Surgery with local legend Lee Prebble in the cockpit. It was written in an attempt to garner friendship within the folk scene of Dundee and shamelessly refers to no fewer than 38 members of said scene by name in a display of lingual dexterity that would put many rappers to shame. All this while courting the affection of a BBC weather presenter and played in the style of Chuck Berry on methamphetamine. Sound incongruous? He’s a complex man.

Fraser Ross, builder-poet, wayfaring loiterer, crass of mind and silver of tongue. Ross has a voice that was honed in Scotland’s rowdy pubs during his two year tenure there and a lyrical style that is at once uplifting and at times deeply moving. He has teamed up with highly active members of Wellington’s music scene to create a four-piece comprised of two guitars, two vocals, bass and drums. While not an unusual instrumentation, their songs span a broad territory from the single’s raucous rock’n’roll, through ethereal balladry, to highlife rhythms, with Ross’ upbeat vocal wizadry the glue that somehow makes it all work.

Accompanying them on tour will be an art exhibition by Wellington Abstract Artist, Deano Shirriffs. After doing set design on their January tour, and selling most of his paintings, he is back on the road, adding colour and surreal visual conversations to the mix.

www.fraserross.com
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Blue Smoke will be open from 5pm and serving up The Brewery’s wood fired pizza and hand crafted Cassels & Sons beer all night long.

Doors for the show will be at 8pm.

FACEBOOK EVENT

Music will get underway around 8:30pm with an opening set from local songstress Emily Fairlight.

Paul Ubana Jones ia a one man with guitar, sounding like a whole band. With a voice that is as husky as it is evocative, with intoxicating rhythms leaving nobody untouched Paul has toured with the best.

Paul Ubana Jones has been described as a Kiwi treasure, a legend by many that have followed his career.

Born in London to a Yorkshire mother and a Nigerian father, Paul Ubana Jones was playing guitar by the age of 11. This was the beginning of a three-decade career that would see him crossing continents and recording eight albums being credited with three major music awards

“Paul Ubana Jones’ soulful voice, sprightly guitar agility and enthusiasm made this the most inspired performance of the evening….in any other country he would be an institution!”
— Simon Sweetman reviewing Paul Ubana Jones, Patti Smith & Bob Dylan. Auckland 1998
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Blue Smoke will be open from 5pm and serving up The Brewery’s wood fired pizza and hand crafted Cassels & Sons beer all night long.

Doors for the show will be at 8pm

Music will get underway around 8:30pm with support from Best Bets & Bryony Mathews.

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It’s been just over two years since the release of Mufti Day, an album that featured the four alt radio hit singles Lance’s Tape, Her Heart Breaks Like A Wave, Cryptic Lipstick and 365 (feat. Emily Edrosa). For Auckland indie guitar pop merchants Dictaphone Blues, it’s been nearly as long since the band hit the road too, so to finish of the kiwi summer in hip fashion, that’s exactly what they’re going to do. Songs old and (a few) new will be aired as the band gear up for a busy 2017.

Sharing the stage for one unforgettable night will be Christchurch rockers BEST BETS and Bryony Mathews.

The last 18 months has seen Dictaphone Blues singer-songwriter Edward Castelow busy producing recordings for other acts in his Mezzanine Studio in Mt. Eden. Dad Jokes, Bryony Matthews, The Conjurors, Blazing Shade, Borneo, Lacuna, Black Science and Thee Rum Coves have all been through and recorded either albums or EPs, keeping Ed’s appetite for recording whet while not focusing on his own songs.

Come the end of 2016, some new material emerged from the aural realms and Ed set about demoing these new ideas. These new songs made it into the hands of revered UK producer Dave Eringa (The Who, Manic Street Preachers, Idlewild and Kylie Minogue) who will be working alongside Ed in the production of a new record.

Blue Smoke will be open from 5pm and serving up The Brewery’s wood fired pizza and hand crafted Cassels & Sons beer all night long.

Doors for the show will be at 7:30pm

Music will get underway around 8pm

Blue Smoke is the first stop on a 28-day tour of NZ by one of Australia’s most versatile acoustic trio’s, Sturrock and Ward.

This trio combines the award-winning song-smith abilities of Brian Ward with the masterful guitar work of Marcus Sturrock with the lovely vocal tone, agility and harmonies of Jenny Ward.

Sturrock and Ward will take the audience on a journey through styles ranging from Celtic tunes to world music

Widely traveled on the Australian and International festival circuit, Sturrock has played and jammed with a virtual brag book of musicians and has developed a reputation for being a wild and gifted performer. This gentleman guitarist’s performance and passion speak for themselves.

Jackdog’s song-smith ability, ready wit and sense of humour are sure to inspire and entertain.

He writes and performs in a wide variety of styles and genres – R&B, inspiring anthems and ballads, political comment, comedy and everything in between. A former President of the Australian Songwriters Association, he remains ever-passionate about grassroots original music.

FACEBOOK EVENT

Doors: 7:30pm
Show time: 8pm
Blue Smoke open from 5pm

https://www.facebook.com/events/398147600533291/

No one really knows how Flora Knight and Archer met, but it’s not too far fetched an idea that the world might’ve stopped spinning for one 13,000 billionth of a second or so.

They were certainly both born to play music of a pure soul, music of life that is, with no plastic bullshit adornment attached..

and you can’t very well go touring around the place in a car if that be the case. You got’sta walk or crawl, roll or slip n slide.. you get the idea.. They follow in the footsteps of the swag men, the Maori, the explorers, the Moa.. tramping this here land for the dam bloody pleasure of it.. and maybe some ego glorification too but musicians get downright ornery and depressed at times and who could blame em.. Besides, Archer is sick of shifting irrigation pipes and Flora’s about ready to stick her head into the deep fryer, so it’s better this way.

Come February 2017 Archer and Flora will be coming round the mountain to a town near you with fiddles and guitars for the walkin’, rollin’ crawlin’, hitchin’, trampin’, fallin’ down and getting back up again swaggin’ tour of TE WAIPOUNAMU (The South Island)

Archer & Flora FEB 2017 tour of Te Waipounamu

Doors; 7:30pm
Show time; 8pm
Blue Smoke open from 5pm

https://www.facebook.com/events/710390532464440/

Daniel Champagne exudes a natural ease on stage, as he sings poignant lyrics and beautifully crafted melodies that invariably whisk the heart up with grand romanticism. Coupled with an exhilarating guitar talent that transcends mere acoustic playing to replicate a whole band, Champagne is just magical’ -themusic.com.au

The story goes that the young Australian singer, songwriter and one-of-a-kind guitar virtuoso first picked up his instrument of choice as a five-year-old following in the footsteps of a musical father. He began writing songs at 12, training classically throughout his teens and performing solo wherever he could, honing his craft and developing what would become the dynamite live show that he is renowned for today.

At 18 he left school, turned professional and hit the road. The next five years saw him traversing North America, the United Kingdom, Europe, New Zealand and of course, his homeland Australia playing such festivals as Vancouver and Mariposa Folk (Canada), Belgium’s Labadoux Festival and Australia’s Woodford, Falls Festival, Port Fairy Folk Festival and the legendary Byron Bay Bluesfest.

He’s toured and shared stages with the likes of Lucinda Williams, Judy Collins, INXS, John Butler Trio, KT Tunstall and Ani DiFranco, Jake Shimabukuro, Rodrigo y Gabriela – all of this while writing, producing and independently releasing two Eps, Gypsy Moon Volumes 1 and 2, his first long player ‘Pint of Mystery’ (2011) ‘My Own Design’ (2009) and ‘Wide Eyed and Open’ (2010), and the ‘Real Live’ offering in 2012. His latest release “The Heartland Hurricanes” is available now.

As one reviewer recently wrote, “still in his early twenties, the distances he has been would be more frequently associated with veterans of the Folk scene” (The Dwarf).

“Today I saw the future of Folk – Festival goers flocking in their thousands towards the main stage to witness the young musical phenomenon from Australia dish out an absolute show-stopper at the evening’s end.” -Firefly Column, USA

http://www.danielchampagnemusic.com/

Support; Emily Fairlight
Doors; 8pm
Show time; 8:30pm
Blue Smoke open from 5pm

www.facebook.com/events/569647036575626

Ben Salter’s love affair with Aotearoa continues this summer with his third trip over the ditch in four years. Local songwriting heroin, Emily Fairlight will be joining him on the Blue Smoke stage for a mesmerizing yet rambunctious performance.

On Saturday the 4th of February Blue Smoke will be open from 5pm so feel free to come early for a little pre-show frivolity..

An incredibly powerful singer and mesmerizing performer, Salter is well known in Australia through his work with a diverse array of bands and projects. He’s released over twenty albums with bands such as The Gin Club, Giants of Science, three time ARIA award nominees The Wilson Pickers, Vandemonian Lags, The Young Liberals and Hownowmer. However he’s most commonly found pushing his esoteric folk/rock/whatever solo schtick on people across Australia and the world.

He’s released two critically acclaimed solo albums and his third, Back Yourself, is due for release later this year. A genre-hopping songwriter’s songwriter, Salter has written, recorded and performed alongside artists such as Gareth Liddiard (The Drones), Mick Thomas (Weddings Parties Anything), Tim Rogers You Am I, and Bernard Fanning Powderfinger. He has supported acts including Cat Power, J Mascis, Built to Spill, Counting Crows, Iron & Wine, and many others.

He is no stranger to New Zealand either, having toured here five times over the past ten years. He’s toured with Auckland’s hip hop poet extraordinaire Tourettes aka Dominic Hoey, whom he met in a remote Icelandic fishing village, and has performed with local hero Marlon Williams, both as support and a band member. He also once bested Liam Finn in a rap battle.

On record, Ben’s music spans a wide range of genres, from progressive, layered rock tracks to sparse string embellished ballads. He sometimes performs with a band but usually it’s just him, a guitar and some pedals, performing what he describes as esoteric folk music. He sings pretty good too.

Please note Blue Smoke will be open from 7pm for ticket holders only

Banished Music presents THE VEILS, TOTAL DEPRAVITY NZ TOUR, Summer 2017

“Like savage collisions of Bowie, Nick Cave and Nine Inch Nails” – UNCUT
Hot on the heels of the release of their blistering fifth album, Total Depravity, The Veils announce their first tour of New Zealand since 2013. With a powerful set of new songs, and a hand-picked collection of support acts from NZ’s finest (including Dunedin luminaries The Chills; Christchurch troubadour & Noir Protagonist Delaney Davidson; and Napier noise-merchants Queens Of Beauty School), The Veils are set to return South in a blaze of glory.

Since the band premiered the first track from the album Axolotl with Pitchfork back in June, anticipation has built steadily for the record co-produced by EL-P (Run The Jewels) and Atom Greenspan, and since its release Total Depravity has received unanimous and glorious praise worldwide.
Their latest single Low Lays The Devil was premiered by both NME and Zane Lowe’s Beats1 show, and was championed by Steve Lamacq heading straight on to the prestigious BBC 6 Music’s Playlist.

“Being based in London we don’t get to tour NZ nearly enough, but that only makes this all the more special. These shows are going to be insane, I can feel it. It’s a homecoming – there’s nothing else quite like it.” says lead singer Finn Andrews.