The New Zealand School of Music returns to the Bristol for a night of kick-ass music from Latin and Fusion ensembles; 30 musicians pouring their hearts and souls into this music.
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Chris Armour & the Leading Brand
Gutbucket Chicago R&B and West Coast Jump blues done the right way by rising stars Chris Armour and Shaun McRoberts with veterans Terry Casey– harmonica; Richard Te One– drums
Roomfulla Blues Jam Night
The last Thursday of each month is the Roomfulla Blues Jam night at the Hotel Bristol. … blues at it’s best.
DEL THOMAS BAND ~ CD Release Party
Our very own Blues Club VP and booking agent launches his own album Driving Home Alone. 
Del Thomas– guitar/vocals; Phil McLaughlin – guitar; George Barris– bass; Bob Smith– keys; Mo Phillip- drums
Del Thomas has been playing guitar since he was a kid, having watched the Beatles, Stones and Kinks on TV back in the black and white 60’s. In the early 70’s he was bitten by the singer songwriter bug and his record collection filled up with Cat Stevens, Sutherland Brothers and Richard Thompson albums. Then he heard the original Fleetwood Mac’s Greatest Hits and Eric Clapton’s 461 Ocean Boulevard album and discovered the blues. From there, his interest in a wide range of styles expanded, including The Eagles, Poco and Lynyrd Skynyrd to Bonnie Raitt and Ry Cooder but the roots of his interest remained in the blues, folk and alt-country (before it was even called that).
Having played with a few covers bands in Scotland, he moved to NZ in 1995 and after arriving in Wellington, developed his playing and song writing skills with his own pop/rock band called Glass Onion. Glass Onion were reasonably successful, releasing a 4 track EP in 1997 (which got a fair amount of play on Wellington radio stations) and playing support for acts such as Collective Soul, The Exponents, Midge Marsden, and The Muttonbirds. Since then his blues-based covers bands, The Pukekos and SilverLine, have both played extensively around the Wellington area; The Pukekos scoring a slot on TVNZ’s ‘Good Morning’ programme in 2005. More recently Del set up Manalishi, a band paying tribute to the blues of early Fleetwood Mac and Peter Green. This band continues to gig around the blues clubs and summer festivals. Once again, Del is playing the music that first inspired him to pick up a guitar.
However, the original material that he was writing was starting to build up. Having sent a couple of new demos to Roger Marbeck at Ode Records, he received enough positive feedback from Roger to back up the audience applause whenever he played the songs at gigs to convince him to do some serious recording and get the songs out to the world. So Del, along with drummer, Mo Phillips, bassist, George Barris and keyboard player, Bob Smith, went into Del’s home studio and laid down the basic live tracks for the new album. Del added a few extra guitar parts and backing vocals before polishing up the mixes. The end result of their efforts can be heard on Driving Home Alone.
The lyrics have been crafted in a way that anyone who’s suffered and lost in love can relate to them – and haven’t most of us at one time or another? Despite many of the songs being about lost love and broken relationships, there’s not one of them that has a ‘woe is me, pass me another bottle’ feel to it! Even when the lyrics hint at dark times staring the listener in the face, Del presents the song with an up-tempo beat, catchy chorus and bluesy guitar hooks big enough to snag a snapper. Del Thomas has succeeded in creating cool radio-friendly songs that hint at a lot more to come from this song-smith with one foot in the blues and the other in country-folk-rock.
HENPICKED
“Henpicked produce a stylish, unusual mix of country, folk with a bit of jazz/blues thrown in – so anyone who likes variety, clever lyrics and sweet harmonies will love it” (David Turner). On their 2nd album Terrafirma (2012), they’ve fully developed their sound, added more dance tunes, while keeping faith with Dean Murray’s trademark political edginess.
Dean Murray- vocals, guitars, didgeridoo, harmonica; Carylann Martin- vocals, keys, accordion; Anje Glindemann- vocals, drums; Kirsten London– vocals, bass guitar
DIRT BOX CHARLIE
On the 4th of July (to some of us a time for fireworks!) comes a great ‘Palmy’ band- Dirt Box Charlie. They play a great style of R&B, hard rockin ‘, earth-lifting blues, and dirty electric slide. Chris Gain– vocals & guitar; Michael Crawford– bass; Hayden Lauridsen– drums
Roomfulla Blues Jam Night
27 JUNE Roomfulla Blues Jam Night Sponsorship by Wellington Music Works
Our aim is to promote live blues/roots music through performance, education and marketing, and to foster emerging talent.
Jam nights are where new musicians, and the seasoned, can mix it with a great backing band and where the expected and the unexpected happen.
Electrolux and the Funky Chief
20 JUNE
A Roomfulla Blues favourite, Prof Warwick Electrolux Murray on guitar and vocals, brings in some funk blues with Aaron Funky Chief Nonoa on bass, and Drum Skinny Vinnie on…. da, da, da, drums! Promises of guest horns complete the line-up.
Mike Jones RIP
Mike Jones was a class act. He sang at the Roomfulla Blues many times. For those who remember, here are some photos from Trudy Benham’s collection. We say, a fond farewell to a great musician!
Brannigan Kaa
13 JUNE Brannigan Kaa, vocalist and band leader extraordinaire, fronts this nine piece band. They’ve been playing together for the last eighteen months and have fine-tuned their groove & big band sound. Ray Tamaira– drums and vocals; Kevin Rangihura – keys; Elliotte Fuimaono – bass; Allen Saena – guitar; Brannigan Kaa – vocals. In the horns section: Dave Conning – trombone; Andrew Stewart – trumpet; Jenny Bedford – tenor saxophone; Paul Caddis – alto saxophone.