Not much into jazz myself, but this looks like a bloody good event for those that are http://www.jazzinmartinborough.co.nz/index.html Fill your boots!

I’m constantly surprised – amazed even – by the entrepreneurial skills of the new young musicians coming through. Gone seem to be the days of the goofy, head-in-the-clouds muso traipsing around aimlessly and playing for a few coins or a feed. I had the pleasure of hosting Mel Parsons for a house concert here recently, [...]

Two words. Woo hoo!

It was perfect. Just how I wanted it to be. Music was very definitely in the house last night. Judging by the enthusiasm with which the concept was received a couple of months ago; the enthusiasm with which Jess Chambers‘ performance was received last night; and the enthusiastic emails I’ve received today, the old-fashioned ‘salon [...]

I’ve been proved wrong – again. So many gigs I’ve attended in recent times have been spoiled by inconsiderate patrons blabbing their way through the performance that I’ve been considering giving up attending live music altogether. Too damn frustrating. Yes, I’m getting on a bit in years. Yes, I’m a bit sensitive to these things [...]

Whatever was in that milkshake-sized paper cup that Lucinda Williams sipped from at the Wellington Town Hall last night, it helped avoid almost certain disaster. In a show of two halves, the legendary Louisiana-born songstress eventually snatched victory from the jaws of defeat after early sound problems threatened to derail her first show downunder in [...]

For what was essentially a “one man and his guitar” show, Steve Earle surely kicked up a storm in a comfortably-full Wellington Opera House last night. Walk-in music from a Lyttleton band (who’s name I didn’t catch) provided an appropriate warm-up, right down to the leader’s stomps and hollers clearly cribbed from Earle’s own performances. [...]

I went to see my mate Callie Blood’s band The Darlings at Mighty Mighty in Wellington last night – by crikey they were good! If you’re in to “pop music for grown-ups”, check them out: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=276520085