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Thursday 10 October: THE FELICE BROTHERS with YOU, ME, EVERYBODY
Ian and James Felice grew up in the Hudson valley of upstate NY. Self-taught musicians, inspired as much by Hart Crane and Whitman as by Guthrie and Chuck Berry, they began in 2006 by playing subway platforms and sidewalks in NYC and have gone on to release nine albums of original songs and to tour extensively throughout the world. The Felice Brothers' latest release, Undress, was recorded straight to tape with very little overdubbing. It's their most personal and reflective album to date.
You, Me, Everybody is about gifting others their moment to shine, a celebration of the virtuosity of the individual and the camaraderie of coming together in a musical moment. Taking their inspiration from a range of musical styles, You, Me, Everybody starts at bluegrass, weaving jazz, country and blues to create a dynamic sound that showcases the best of Americana.
Saturday 12 October: ALBI AND THE WOLVES with BURN THE BRIDGES
The NZ-based trio, Albi & the Wolves, create a huge sound using only an acoustic guitar, an electric violin, double bass and their three vocals. The band is renowned for their great stage presence and dynamic shows that they have evolved by touring their home country extensively including shows in Australia. Albi & the Wolves recently won the Best Folk Artist 2018 TUI at the New Zealand Music Awards for their debut album One Eye Open. Chris Dent (the proud albino front man Albi), Pascal Roggen and Michael Young's individuality shines through the music to make something compelling, uplifting, soulful and fun.
Burn the Bridges have a wide-ranging sound that could be best described as Americana meets Kiwi-ana. Taking influences from Country, Folk, Blues Rock and Funk on the Americana side and adding a bit of New Zealand Reggae/Dub to give it that down-home feel.
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Sunday 13 October: MOLLY TUTTLE AND DEE WHITE with DAVE KHAN
MOLLY TUTTLE
Award-winning guitarist with a gift for insightful songwriting, Molly Tuttle evolves her signature sound with boundary-breaking songs on her compelling debut album, When You're Ready. Tuttle has garnered the respect of her peers, winning fans for her incredible flat-picking guitar technique and confessional songwriting. In the past year, Molly has won the Folk Alliance International's honour for Song of the Year for 'You Didn't Call My Name' and took home her second trophy for the International Bluegrass Music Association's Guitar Player of the Year (the first woman in the history of the IBMA to win that honour).
DEE WHITE
Dee White makes classic-minded country music for the modern world. Raised in small-town Alabama, he's a raw, natural songwriter, spinning the sounds and stories of the American South into songs that nod to the past while still chasing down new horizons. His songs are classics-in-the-making, inspired by traditional sounds but happily rooted in the 21st century. This isn't a throwback act. Instead, it's a contemporary, ageless take on country music one that packs just as strong a punch today as it would've 50 years ago.
DAVE KHAN
Dave Khan is an Auckland based multi-instrumentalist. He has backed many musicians including Bernie Griffen, Marlon Williams and Reb Fountain to name a few. He also performs as a solo artist, singing a variety of folk and blues backed by his fiddle, mandolin or guitar.
Friday 18 October: POKEY LAFARGE with SIERRA FERRELL
Ever since his first record, 2006s self-released Marmalade, LaFarge has been a difficult specimen to pin down, indeed. Though he was raised on a healthy diet of blues, bluegrass, ragtime, Western swing and old-time country and though he has consistently demonstrated a decided affinity for pre-1950s menswear the Illinois native is by no means a throwback or a museum piece. Timelessness, and refined good taste, is LaFarges raison dêtre, and his influences are as multi-hued and wide-ranging as the rhythms that buoy his starkly poetic songs rhythms that are steeped in the very essence of jazz.
From Charleston, WV, Sierra Ferrell has lived a life of non-stop song and music since age 20. While that makes only 8 years thus far, the depths of life and soul you hear in her voice are stunning. She sang throughout her whole childhood, and many different kinds of old songs and vinyl records and on the radio took up a full-time residence in her songbird heart.
Saturday 19 October: JONNY FRITZ & JOSHUA HEDLEY with LOUIS JARLOV
Jonny Fritz and Joshua Hedley epitomise all that is good and wonderful in heartfelt contemporary, and a little bit looney, country music. With complete love and understanding of music of the forefathers, the duo presents a celebratory show that respects the past but gives it a contemporary edge. Honky-tonk, bluegrass, outlaw country and traditional country are seamlessly intertwined in a performance that celebrates the golden days of the '50s and '60s but with a modern day knowledge and feel. The Jonny Fritz and Joshua Hedley Show brings together two of the finest singers and players in a fresh music partnership that's made in country music heaven.
Louis Jarlov is an up and coming Americana enthusiast and songwriter based in Auckland. In the tradition of good country, he writes songs with strong stories, like a good book you cant put down. Louis has an astounding storytelling maturity beyond his years.
Sunday 20 October: TAMI NEILSON with JENNY MITCHELL
Multi award-winning Canadian-born, New Zealand singer-songwriter Tami Neilson needs no introduction. Having become one of NZ's most beloved artists of the modern era, blending country, soul and rockabilly into her signature high-octane performances, Neilson's songs have tugged at our heart-strings and soothed our souls. Accompanied by Tami's brother and longtime co-writer/collaborator Jay Neilson, the Big Boss Mama will bring her extensive songbook to the Tuning Fork this October in the middle of her nationwide tour.
The 2019 NZ Country Artist of the Year is a travel-loving storyteller from the deep South of New Zealand. Influenced by Gillian Welch and Norah Jones, Jenny Mitchells folk-country goodness is rapidly capturing fans across the globe. Shes comfortable with a country twang or softly spoken ballad and her critically acclaimed record Wildfires proves that she is not afraid to create music that follows no trends or genre expectations.
