Blues in New Zealand

Midge Marsden is a blues and R&B guitarist, harmonica-player and singer with a career spanning four decades.

Darren Watson is a singer and guitarist in a wide range of blues styles, as well as an international award-winning songwriter.[1] Watson led the very popular blues band Smoke Shop, which featured on the New Zealand charts and toured extensively throughout the country in the 1980s and 1990s, opening for several international blues artists including NZ tours with Koko Taylor, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, and two tours with The Robert Cray Band. In 2008 Watson won the blues section of Nashville's International Songwriting Competition[2]. Watson has recorded five successful albums: King Size, which was nominated for Best Roots Album at the 2003 NZ Music Awards, 2005's South Pacific Soul, 2010's Saint Hilda's Faithless Boy, 2014's Introducing Darren Watson, and his most recent album, 2018's Too Many Millionaires, which was favorably reviewed in several international magazines including jazz 'bible' Downbeat and UK magazine Blues Matters. [3] The album also charted at No. 20 on the Official Top 40 Album Chart[4], No. 3 on the Official NZ Top 20 Album Chart[5], and No. 1 on the IMNZ Album Chart[6].

Dave Murphy is one of New Zealand's leading exponents of finger picking blues guitar. He plays and teaches in the style of John Hurt, Robert Johnson, Gary Davis, Big Bill Broonzy, Mance Lipscomb, Stefan Grossman, Reverend Gary Davis, and Furry Lewis.

Dave lives in downtown Wellington and performs regularly as a solo performer and in a duo with Dougal Spier, and as a member of the Red Dog Saloon Band. He also enjoys jamming with blues artists such as Carol Bean and Marg Layton at Capital Blues Club in Wellington.

In 2008 the CD "Yes That's Me – Dave Murphy Plays The Blues" was recorded by engineer Robbie Duncan of Braeburn Recording Studio and film-maker Costa Botes filmed the recording and produced the DVD.

The Windy City Strugglers is a Wellington band whose music is based on the singing, songwriting and guitar playing of Bill Lake and the vocals of Rick Bryant. Long-serving band members are Andrew Delahunty on guitar, harmonica and mandolin and Nick Bollinger on double bass.

Hammond Gamble is a singer and guitarist. He achieved fame in the late 1970s fronting one of the biggest bands on the New Zealand rock circuit at the time, Street Talk, and later the Hammond Gamble Band. He recorded two albums with Street Talk and three under his own name. Probably his best and most widely known recording is the live 1995 album Plugged in and Blue. Gamble is also a songwriter. Joe Cocker recorded his song "If You’ve Got Love, Give Me Some", and Gamble composed rock classics such as "Leaving the Country" (1978), "Should I be Good or Should I be Evil" (1981) and "Midnight" (1983). In 1992 and 1993 he had a number-one hit with "You Make the Whole World Smile". Gamble has won a number of New Zealand awards, including Rock Performer of the Year, Album of the Year, APRA Silver Scroll and Film Soundtrack of the Year.

Born on a farm in New Zealand's rural south, Marg began her musical career in the folk café scene that was in full bloom in the late 60s, first in Christchurch, then in other parts of the country. She was a frequent performer at the Capital's legendary folk haunt, the Monde Marie.

The 70s saw her perform at major folk music clubs, festivals and concerts all over New Zealand, working alongside such pivotal folk figures as Don McLean, Tom Paxton and Odetta, who invited her to join her on stage at the Auckland Town Hall. A trip to Europe and the United States in 1980 – which included a pilgrimage to the birthplace of the blues, New Orleans, and meeting blues legend Alberta Hunter in Greenwich Village – consolidated her commitment to the blues.

Since returning to New Zealand in the early 80s she has sung the blues – with side-servings of jazz and folk – throughout the country; at arts, wine or food festivals, in theatres and bars, from community halls to opera houses. Her musical eclecticism has seen her working in a variety of settings. She has swung with top-flight jazz players like pianist Terry Crayford, bass player Paul Dyne and drummer Roger Sellers, and sung with such well-known blues vendors as Darren Watson, Dave Murphy, the Windy City Strugglers and Kokomo.

In 1999 she at last released her first album, Trouble and Satisfaction. Produced by broadcaster and musician Nick Bollinger and recorded at Marmalade and Plan 9 Studios in Wellington. In recent years her regular accompanists have included Windy City Strugglers’ leader Bill Lake, guitarist Chris Prowse, harmonica and mandolin player Andrew Delahunty, jazz bassist Patrick Bleakley and drummer Ian Parker.

Mike Garner has lived in New Zealand since 1988 and has gained a reputation as one of NZ's most experienced blues performers. He has performed in the UK, Italy, Germany, Australia, New Caledonia, Japan, Kathmandu and the Cook Islands. Mike is a regular performer at jazz and blues festivals in New Zealand.

Neil Billington is one of the leading exponents of the harmonica to come out of New Zealand. He is equally at home playing in the ‘Chicago-style’ of Little Walter on the blues harp or reflecting the more sophisticated jazz sensibilities of Belgian jazz great, Jean ‘Toots’ Thielemans, on chromatic harmonica.

Kokomo is a blues & roots group, based in New Zealand's Bay of Plenty. Originally 'Kokomo Blues', the group was formed in 1991. The band has toured extensively throughout New Zealand, performing at major rock, blues, jazz and folk festivals. The band has released a dozen albums and a full-length concert DVD, Kokomo a Gogo (2008). Latest album is Sunset Claws (2019).

The Auckland Blues Music Club was first established in 2007 and although several name and management changes have occurred over the years, it has continued to stand the test of time and maintain its status as Auckland's most prominent host of blues music events.

Capital Blues Inc. is a Wellington blues club which runs live music nights every Thursday night in Wellington. The idea for a Wellington blues club was formed in 1995 by musician Pip Payne along with local musos Dougal Speir and Dave Head. First venue was 'The Venue' (1996) followed by 'Bill Direen's' (1997) and later the 'Hotel Bristol' and now 'Jack Hacketts Irish Pub' where it continues.[7]

Musicians of note who performed in the early the years at the club include, Pip Payne And Rhythm Method, Midge Marsden, The Pauas, Hammond Gamble, Marg Layton, Brannigan Kaa, Kokomo & Kokomo Blues, The Whitireia Blues Experience, Mike Garner, Billy Tk Junior, Neil Billington Band, Julian Dixon And Matt Hay, Kayte and the Barflies, Jan Preston, Barry Saunders And Caroline Easther, Wayne Mason Band, Doug Macleod (USA), Pugsley Buzzard (AUS), The John O’connor Experiment, Shayn Hurricane Wills and the Zephyr Hunters, The Windy City Strugglers, Tin Pan Alley, Velox Brothers, The Behemoths, Darren Watson, Dave Murphy, Red Dog Saloon Band, Greeny and the Mac, Henpicked, Al Witham Band, London Underground, The Business, Laura Collins Band, Frankie and the Bee, Rodger Fox & The NZ School Of Music, Bullfrog Rata and The Alligators, The Legal Tender Band, The Pickups, Carol Bean & Blue Highways, Blues Buffet With Erna Ferry, Silverline, Adam Waldron & Friends, Bob Cooper-Grundy & Friends, Hutt River Ramble, Strange Brew, The Murray Brothers, El Bastardo Banditos!, Wellington Heads, The Cattlestops, The Kemptones.

The current Capital Blues Inc. committee (2018) comprises: President: Damian Forlong, Vice President: Michelle McRae, Treasurer & Membership officer: Julie Lamb, Booking Agent: Deryck Hope, Webmaster and BluzNuz editors: Geoff Head, Rob Hole. [8]

Founded in 1995 by local blues stalwart Mike Garner, the Hamilton Blues Society has hosted many of the countries major blues musicians such as Midge Marsden, Ronnie Taylor plus many many more. Over the years the HBS has also hosted artists from overseas.

The Taranaki Blues Society is based in New Plymouth NZ.

The BOP Blues Club is based in Rotorua NZ.