Earlier this year I agreed to review a concert of the Nashville-based husband and wife duo of Nick Stone (vocals, guitar) and Dani Cichon (vocals, mandolin), without previously having heard any of their music and it is fair to say I was blown away. I was fortunate...

On Kevin Kastning’s latest release we find him on his favoured 36-string Double Contraguitar, and he has been joined this time by Internationally acclaimed Boston-based jazz pianist and composer Laszlo Gardony who is Professor of Piano at Berklee College of Music and...

Here we have the latest single from Wellington-based Anxiety Club, taken from the forthcoming album Old Dreams, but anyone expecting more of their guitar-led music is going to be in for quite a surprise as there has been a major shift in their sound, caused by...

Last Saturday I travelled over to Kumeu with photographer Steve Bone to catch Jenny Mitchell, a wonderful country performer, and while I was aware she had a guest in Jamie McDell I had no idea who she was as I had previously not come across her. We listened to both...

Generally, but not always, it is debut albums which are self-titled, and there must be a real reason for an artist to do that later in their career (unless of course you are Peter Gabriel and do that for your first four solo albums, just because). There is no hiding...

I came across Wellington-based Sidewinder last year when I was asked to review their “Walk of Ishi” single and was mightily impressed with what I was hearing, so even though someone else grabbed the album to review for MNNZ I was determined that I was also going to...

Over the last year I have become friends with the reprobate Ant Ward (Just One Fix) and his lovely long-suffering wife Gaylene, and when I was writing the press release for their new album (check out Bleeding Afterglow) we started talking about Ward 10 and I said I...

I still have to pinch myself when I realise I have known these guys for just 15 months, as their music has become an incredibly important part of my life. I reviewed a show last year and was immediately a massive convert to their bombastic mix of full-on metal and...