Tuesday Apr. 9th, 2024: Black Eyed Susie + Supports
Smokey vocals, Originals, Blues, Folk, Celtic mix
Black Eyed Susie began in 2006 when guitarist Ramon Oza met violinist Susan Colien Reid at a music jam. Their collaboration has continued for 17 years with performances throughout the North Island .The unique blend of Susan's Celtic classical style with Ramon’s rhythm and blues has resulted in songs full of musically sophisticated riffs and grooves.
Both Susan and Ramon have strong performing backgrounds. While Ramon toured with The Drifters, and played support for well known artists including Bunny Walters, Susan played support for The Alabama Bind Boys, and well known artists including Paul Ubana Jones , Wayne Mason ,and Judy Small.
Black Eyed Susie’s favourite place to play is on the street, making people happy through song and performance.
Hope and the Hobo
Songwriters Jo Sheffield and Phil Hope are collaborating in a duo called Hope and the Hobo.
Jo has recently released her solo album ‘Gypsy Mind’ and performs live with The Eagals an all-girl Eagles tribute band.
With Country Blues / Americana influences Phil is formerly with Matt Hay and the Makers, Rag Poets & the 80s Country group The Hutt River Band and since 2021 has been performing his own originals with Jo.
John Gray
John has been involved in music in one form or another since his early school years from playing violin, playing bagpipes in Pipe Bands and performing at the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, to studying jazz performance saxophone and more recently taking up guitar and writing his own original songs. He has played in Celtic bands The Moas and Las Gaitas de Celtique. John is also a member of local band Planet that has performed here several times.
Cotton Daisy Backstep
Through the hollers and wailing pines of the Appalachian Mountains, it is not uncommon to hear the haunting sounds of the banjo and fiddle or stomping and shouting from an old-time string band.
Here in New Zealand there is one such band that brings this music to the fore like no other. COTTON DAISY BACKSTEP have opened a portal deep into those lost roots of Americana. Playing the old ‘hillbilly’ music of the Appalachian Mountains, their high energy homestead music evokes that old 78 bacon-frying sound no book-learning can give. They sing the songs of the pioneers, shotgun totin’ moonshiners and tub-thumping dance tunes.
