The Famous Elsewhere Questionnaire
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THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Anna Coddington
3 Sep 2015 | 3 min read
Singer-songwriter Anna Coddington is no stranger to awards, she has been nominated for an Apra Silver Scroll four times. With two albums behind her, numerous guest spots on other people's albums (Tim Guy, Eru Dangerpiel, SJD and most recently Ahoribuzz) as well a regular in the Fly My Pretties line-up, she is certainly well known around the traps. And this month she is back on the road... > Read more
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Lips
2 Sep 2015 | 4 min read
In 2012 when Stephanie Brown aka Lips won the Apra Silver Scroll for Everything to Me we flicked her our Famous Elsewhere Songwriter Questionnaire. But that was then and this is now and Lips -- who lived in Brooklyn, NYC for many years but is currently in Arizona -- is now a duo with West Virginian drummer Fen Ikner, and is coming back to New Zealand for a short tour in a double bill with... > Read more
Traces of Teddy
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Tift Merritt
2 Sep 2015 | 3 min read
On the occasion of the release of her impressive debut album Bramble Rose in 2002 I joked along the lines of "remember this name". Tift -- actually her middle name -- was of course a hard one to forget. And her brand of alt.country/Americana put her right in the frame alongside Emmylou Harris. Her latest album Traveling Alone is her fifth studio recording and among the guests... > Read more
Small Talk Relations
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: Ebony Lamb
31 Aug 2015 | 2 min read
Ebony Lamb – of Eb and Sparrow who have opened for Pokey LaFarge, Wagons, the Warratahs, Tami Neilson and many other folk-country luminaries – embark on an extensive New Zealand tour (dates below) on the back of their excellent new album Sun/Son. So clearly it was time to flick her our Famous Elsewhere Songwriter Questionnaire . . . The first song which really affected... > Read more
Liberator
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Tommy Emmanuel
18 Aug 2015 | 2 min read
Guitarist Tommy Emmanuel is no stranger to New Zealand's shores and nor should be because he was for a long time a near neighbor. Born in New South Wales 60 years ago, Emmanuel rose quickly through the ranks and by his teenage years he had acquired considerable road miles touring with the family band and also a stack of awards. In the early Seventies he joined the re-formed... > Read more
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Darryn Paterson-Harkness
10 Aug 2015 | 3 min read
Auckland multi-instrumentalist Darryn Paterson-Harkness has always gone his own way, sometimes working within an innovative rock context (his bands New Telepathics and Serafin, the latter recording a John Peel session in London and playing in over 20 countries), and at others exploring the realms of pop and/or jazz improvisation. He has also been part of the expanded From Scratch... > Read more
Cutting the Mustard Goose
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Frank Eliesa of Yoko-Zuna
27 Jul 2015 | 2 min read
The Auckland four-piece Yoko-Zuna (for your amusement check the source of the name) describe themselves on their Facebook page as "progressive, electronic, hip-hop" . . . And all of those descriptors seem fair . . . especially the progressive bit. That's because, if you check the sample track here, you can feel the breadth of their jazz fusion-cum-hip-hop with a nu-soul... > Read more
This Place
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE WRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: Rochelle Bright
20 Jul 2015 | 4 min read
Rochelle Bright has enjoyed one of the better views in New Zealand while writing plays such as her acclaimed Daffodils . . . and the impending The Deliberate Disappearance of My Friend, Jack Hartnett (which opens in Auckland soon, dates below) She earned the enviable multi-milldollar vista across Auckland's Hauraki Gulf from Devonport's heights because she won the 2015 Michael King... > Read more
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: Abraham Kunin
6 Jul 2015 | 2 min read
Abraham Kunin is a musician with many hats: He is a member of the Auckland three-piece the Means who parlay a kind of soulful electro-jazz and released their debut EP The Ends 18 months ago, and with singer Esther Stephens (as Esther Stephens and the Means) they've just released their debut self-titled album. But he's also been in House of Broken Strings, Coach and Junelle, and was the... > Read more
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Timberwolf
26 Jun 2015 | 2 min read
Australian singer-songwriter Timberwolf -- aka Chris Panousakis -- got some very good news recently. He was invited by Gin Wigmore to open for her in Melbourne and Sydney . . . and on her forthcoming New Zealand dates (see below). That will mean some big crowds, but the Adelaide-based musician is familiar enough with that: He has played Womadelaide, the Big Pineapple Groovin the Moo... > Read more
Stranded
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: Bill Morris
15 Jun 2015 | 4 min read
Not many New Zealand musicians could pull a quote about themselves from the influential American magaine No Depression, and certainly not one as glowing as that about Bill Morris. “He’s thousands of miles from Nashville, " wrote John Apice, "but even those songwriters would not want to get into the ring with a heavyweight like Bill Morris. If they did,... > Read more
Gold Light (In the Palm of My Hands)
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: Aly Cook
12 Jun 2015 | 3 min read
Aly Cook should need no introduction given how many nominations she's had for best female country artist (five) or because of how she turns her skills as a publicist to her own advantage. She is all over social media, sends out interesting newsletters (she's so much on the move they read like travelogues) and just keeps writing and playing. If she isn't as well known in her homeland... > Read more
Western Line
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: Sally Stockwell
15 May 2015 | 2 min read
While it's easy to be dismissive of actors moving into the world of music (does anyone yearn for the return of Keanu Reeves in Dogstar?), there have been some creditable and credible results from thespians and screen stars writing and recording their own music. And into that crossover now steps actress Sally Stockwell who is best known for appearances on New Zealand television shows... > Read more
Lair
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE JAZZ QUESTIONNAIRE: David Long
13 May 2015 | 3 min read
Those who have followed the by-ways of David Long's busy life might wonder why this award-winning producer, composer and guitarist-without-portfolio – who was a founder member of the Muttonbirds, has composed scores for Peter Jackson films, is a member of Plan 9, his music appearing in the current NZ doco The Ground We Won and he has written for dance and theatre – should here... > Read more
Holy Grottoe
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE JAZZ QUESTIONNAIRE: Alan Brown
11 May 2015 | 6 min read
Auckland-based keyboard player and composer Alan Brown has been around the New Zealand jazz scene for decades in groups like Blue Train and the Grand Central Band, has toured and played with the likes of Nathan Haines and Caitlin Smith and of course helmed his own trio . . . as well as passing on the message through his teaching. But his new album Silent Observer takes a quieter turn and is... > Read more
Abandoned Fences
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: Robin Nathan
4 May 2015 | 3 min read
Over here at Elsewhere we don't have little ones but that doesn't stop us enjoying children's books and sometimes even music aimed at the wee folk. Our favourite local artist making music for kids – which adults don't have to endure but can actually enjoy – is Wellingtonian Robin Nathan, producer of Fatcat and Fishface albums as well as fleabiteBITE. The lyrics are... > Read more
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: Jody Direen
20 Apr 2015 | 2 min read
Wanaka-based Jody Direen is the new face and new voice of New Zealand's mainstream (but post-Taylor Swift) country music scene. Elsewhere spoke to her last year (here) and mentioned at that time her single Loud had gone to number four on the Australian country music charts, and that she had been spotted by Bear Grylls team when singing in Wanaka. She spent six months in the States... > Read more
Adreenaline
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: Fraser and Naomi Browne of Paper Cranes
6 Apr 2015 | 4 min read
The Japanese writing on the cover of the debut album album by Auckland's Paper Cranes (and the band name, of course) alert you to the fact that there is something a little different about them. Singer Naomi was born and brought up in Japan and in performance they deftly (and discreetly deploy Japanese flute). That debut album The Road Home caught Elsewhere's heart recently (see here)... > Read more
Tillsammans, Futaride
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: Joel Fafard
1 Apr 2015 | 3 min read
Let's be honest here: Not many people in New Zealand would have heard of long-running Canadian singer-songwriter Joel Fafard who writes his own material but is also rooted in Southern blues and folk. He's not only very good, he's been doing this for more than a decade, has a brace of albums behind him, tells a good story between songs and back home has picked up awards. So Elsewhere is... > Read more
Jitterbug Swing
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE SONGWRITER QUESTIONNAIRE: Sharon Corr
30 Mar 2015 | 4 min read
The first thing that is surprising about Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Sharon Corr is that she is 45. For someone who has been touring and recording for 25 years she is astonisingly well preserved. The other thing however is that she is a very classy songwriter and her two solo albums since the family band the Corrs called it a day a decade ago (a hiatus, not a break-up... > Read more