#491 :: Darren Watson Interview

The Blues Room, 24 June 2015

Episode #491

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Darren Watson (pictured right) phones in to The Blues Room in this episode to talk about his Shoot Up Your Televisions NZ tour with Matt Langley which kicks off Friday 26th June. I'll be catching them at Nivara Lounge in Hamilton. Get tickets here. You won't be disappointed! 

http://www.darrenwatson.com/

https://www.facebook.com/mattlangleymusic

1. Darren Watson - I Wanna Be With You 

2. Thee Rum Coves - Baby Please

3. Darcy Perry - Eleven Long Years

4. Darren Watson - Planet Key

5. Darren Watson - I Got Your Office Right Here

6. Albert King - Breaking Up Somebody's Home

7. Rufus Thomas - The Breakdown (Part 1)

8. The Meters - Stop That Train

9. Darren Watson - Hungarian Rhapsody For A Kiwi Fulla

Darren Watson (blues) and Matt Langley (alt-folk/country) start their 'Shoot Your Television' tour.

Real Deal Productions are pleased to announce the winter tour of 2015 for lovers of great roots music!

Wellington blues musician Darren Watson and Dunedin alt-folk/country troubadour Matt Langley are teaming up to encourage people to 'shoot their televisions', get their thumbs off their iPhones, and check out some of New Zealand's finest original music LIVE in concert this winter.

Darren Watson and Matt Langley's Shoot Your Television Winter Tour will visit towns and cities across New Zealand from late June to mid July playing bars, cafes, halls, and house concerts.

You can book at Eventfinder simply by clicking on the show you wish to attend below.

Paekakariki - St. Peter's Hall - Friday 26 June (with Bill Lake)

Palmerston North - Cafe Royale - Sunday 28 June

Hamilton - Nivara Lounge - Thursday 2 July

Mount Maunganui - Mauao Performing Arts - Friday 3 July

Gisborne - The Dome Room - Saturday 4 July

Hastings - Common Room - Sunday 5 July

Wellington - Rogue & Vagabond - Thursday 9 July

Nelson - Playhouse Cafe & Theatre - Friday 10 July

Christchurch - Wunderbar/Lyttelton - Saturday 11 July

Dunedin - Carey's Bay Hotel - Thursday 16 July

Dunedin - Taste Merchants - Friday 17 July

Invercargill - The Cheey Llama - Saturday 18 July

Darren has brought us great songs about New Zealand's current Prime Minster, John Keys.

#490 :: Interview with Nick Atkinson of Hopetoun Brown (Supergroove)

The Blues Room, 17 June 2015

Episode #490

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Nick Atkinson of Hopetoun Brown is our guest on The Blues Room tonight. Together with Tim Stewart these guys were (and still are) the horn section for Supergroove, that catchy funky arty band of the 90s who brought us hits like Can't Get Enough and Sitting Inside My Head.

Hopetoun Brown are on tour and roll into Hamilton this Friday 19 June. Bring your instrument of choice down to the Nivara Lounge on Friday night and be prepared to join in on the bluesy songs at the end of their sets and YOU GET IN FOR FREE!

https://www.facebook.com/hopetounbrown 

1. Lightnin' Hopkins - The Howling Wolf

2. Supergroove - Can't Ger Enough

3. Hopetoun Brown - Demanding Blues Free Download

4. Hopetoun Brown - Knitted Into My Bones Free Download

5. Nigel Spiers - The Thrill Is Gone

6. Stevie Ray Vaughan And Double Trouble - Shake For Me

7. Taj Mahal - Built For Comfort

8. Howlin' Wolf - Chocolate Drop

9. Howlin' Wolf - Sitting On Top Of The World

Hopetoun Brown Are Coming To Town

By day they're the Supergroove horn section. 

By night they stalk the streets, their antique wind instruments shrieking wildly.

Often playing without amplification the pair measure each bar like a lumberjack aims his axe. Nick Atkinson's big clarinet supports Tim Stewart's heavy trumpet tone, a sound hefty enough to bend a bough. Boots stomp and the crowd hollers as Stewart's powerful voice soulfully bellows out hits like Demanding Blues and Road Runner Rocks. Join the pair on tour through out New Zealand during June/July 2015.

If you've ever seen Supergroove perform you may have noticed the bouncing horn section of Tim Stewart and Nick Atkinson. The pair have recently formed a band called Hopetoun Brown which revolves around Tim's big soulful voice coupled to the deep tones of Nick's bass clarinet.

Back in their school days Nick and Tim fell in love with the unique sounds of New Orleans after seeing The Dirty Dozen Brass Band march down Queen Street. "It was the rhythms that drew you in" reflects Tim who goes on at length about the large amounts of stone-cold funk pouring from the assorted horns that fateful day. Since then they've worked on their chops sharpening their skills on that classic Southern repertoire, but late last year something happened that changed their sound. Tim started to sing that Big Easy classic Saint James Infirmary. When the bass clarinet picked out the bass-line Hopetoun Brown was born. "There's such a natural balance between Tim's voice and sound of the low clarinet" says Nick. "They're very complementary, almost complete."
Since then they've been gigging around central Auckland haunts like the Portland Public House, Golden Dawn, The Wine Cellar and the Leigh Sawmill where they were able to do an extra late session out by the briar recently. "Once we got stomping there was gravel flying everywhere" says Tim gleefully.

#488

The Blues Room, 3 June 2015

Episode #488

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Apologies from Darcy Perry who couldn't make it in to The Blues Room tonight. Heres some blues to get you thinking. What do Paul Butterfield, The 5 Royales, Stevie Ray Vaughan, & Bill Withers all have in common? To know the answer listen to this week's episode of The Blues Room. Enjoy!

1. Mark Cook - Shake These Blues Away

2. Bert Deivert & Copperhead Run - Death Letter

3. Hound Dog Taylor - See Me In The Evening

4. Ray Beadle - Nail biter

5. James Harman - Coldfront Woman

6. Gary Smith, David Barrett & Aki Kumar - I'm In Love With My Baby

7. Paul Butterfield - Piney Brown Blues

8. The 5 Royales - Too Much Lovin'

9. Stevie Ray Vaughan - Couldn't Stand The Weather 

10. Bill Withers - Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone

11. The Rolling Stones feat. Eric Clapton - Brown Sugar (alternate version)

12. B.B. King - BB's Blues

#487 :: Bernie Griffen Interview

The Blues Room, 27 May 2015

Episode #487

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Founding member of The Grifters, Bernie Griffen has been front and centre of New Zealand’s music scene for nearly two decades, as long-time and well-loved host of 95bFM’s Border Radio show as well as performer and champion of independent Kiwi music.

A singer-songwriter with a powerful voice full of soul, humour and sadness, Griffen is a story-teller to the core, penning songs about characters real and imagined existing in a world of criminals and saints; dusty feet and wounded hearts. He draws influence from blues, from the country-rock of Gram Parsons and The Grateful Dead, the sharp-tongued lyrical wit of Bob Dylan, the mournful wails of Neil Young and outlaw country singers like Johnny Cash.

I catch up with Bernie on this episode of The Blues Room to talk all about his Hamilton show, music, Higher Ground and much much more.

Bernie on Facebook

1. B.B. King - Blind Love

2. Kokomo - World's Most Jealous Girl

3. Bernie Griffen and the Thin Men - Precious Love

4. Bernie Griffen and the Thin Men - Crying Too

5. Bernie Griffen and the Thin Men - Patti Smith

6. Bernie Griffen and the Thin Men - Salvation

7. The Blues Buffet - A Dingo Took My Baby

8. Bert Deivert & Copperhead Run - Baby Please Don't Go

9. Kitty, Daisy & Lewis - Good Looking Woman