Concert Review:  Kiwigrass, Mighty River Domain, Lake Karapiro  5 -7 February 2021

The third New Zealand Bluegrass festival, held in the absence of international artists, establishes a NZ home for this vital American Roots country with home-grown acts both old and new.

Similar to Father of Bluegrass Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys we are graced by the presence of the Hamilton County Bluegrass Band. From where it all began in New Zealand more than fifty years ago. One of the greatest New Zealand bands and also a memorial this time to their world-class original fiddle player Colleen Trenwith who passed away shortly before the festival.

Rock’n’Roll before it got that name was virtually Bluegrass. The Big Bang of Elvis Presley at Sun Studios. In less than four minutes, Blue Moon of Kentucky and That’s All Right changed the world forever.

Hamilton County Bluegrass Band

On Sunday afternoon Hamilton County delivered a classic set which mined original American Bluegrass legends for songs. Done with their own distinctive style which sounds as smooth and natural as a thoroughbred from around these horse-breeding parts of the Waikato.

The origins of Bluegrass in New Zealand go back to the mid-Sixties when this new band were given a residency on TV show Country Touch. One channel. No Internet. Radio. That was it and this band took off because at their core they were bloody great. One peak came on 12^th June 1971 when they appeared on Bill Monroe’s slot at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.   

How Mountain Girls Can Love is a classic tearaway Stanley Brothers tune. If you want to start a Bluegrass show at the top, this is it. Fast rolling finger-picking banjo. Alan Rhodes singing like his old self. A clear and affectless tenor, which he keeps up all through the set.

Fox On The Run is the Bluegrass song made famous by the Country Gentlemen. This is one of the bands most popular tunes and they play with great ensemble singing.

Another signature song Reuben James. Originally a huge hit for Kenny Rogers and the First Edition.

Paul Trenwith QSM

Of course, the classic banjo picking throughout is Paul Trenwith QSM. Along with Rhodes and Colleen Trenwith (nee Bain), they formed the nucleus of the band. Bain was a classical violinist until she was persuaded to turn it into a fiddle.

Leonard Cohen also did time as an original member playing dobro, guitar and harmonica. In a parallel world, another one wrote Hallelujah.

On Way Down South Trenwith lays out some classic Earl Scruggs three-finger style fast rolling riffs.

Their take on Orange Blossom Special was a chance for Colleen to show her absolute fiddle mastery. Which could match any American fiddle player you care to name.  Done pretty well this afternoon by daughter-in-law Victoria Trenwith.

 Nobody Knows is an old Dillards song with ringing banjo and singers going high.

Listening to the Rain an Osbourne Brothers song with new singer Pam Findlay bringing more a Country cadence to the vocal sound

Both bands were blueprints for the Hamilton County style.

Earlier in the day, Paul Trenwith introduces a showcase of his young pupils. Most are primary school. Playing mandolin, banjo and dobro they reel out great takes on tunes like Cannonball Blues, Blackberry Blossom, Panhandle Rag, Lonesome Moonlight Waltz, You are my Sunshine.

Bugle Call Rag has the banjo mimicking a bugle. Cripple Creek the train leaves the station and then cranks up the speed to slam on the brakes just before the wall.

This is a good indicator of the future of Bluegrass in New Zealand.

Similar to Be-Bop Jazz at its origins. Both developed over the same time in the early Forties. Instrumental breaks played at breath-taking speed whilst hanging on to the melody. Quite cerebral but still taking care of the body with rhythmic drive. The Charlie Parker-Earl Scruggs Experience?

BB & Alex

One international act got through quarantine just in time to perform. BB and Alex.

Catherine “BB” Bowness is originally from Marton New Zealand and a virtuoso on banjo. Partner Alex Rubin is American based in Boston and a similar virtuoso on flat-picked guitar.

Bowness is a long-time resident of Cambridge Massachusetts and is a founding member of a currently hot and rising young American Bluegrass band the Mile Twelve. Deep traditional roots married to contemporary stylings have seen them winning multiple awards. Rubin has played in every State except Hawaii and all over the planet.

First set they run through a number of familiar and traditional tunes. Nine Pound Hammer, Columbus Stockade Blues, St Louis Blues. BB has a great rolling rhythmic style which ranges from up on high ringing bell tones to racing flat out, maintaining clean melody lines.

 Alex matches her for pace and virtuosity. Sings with a Southern States voice.

On Polly Put the Kettle On the fiddle tune is stretched out with some jazzy lines and a nice mellow strutting melody.

Lockdown for a banjo and guitar playing couple must have its fraught moments but they also put together a multi-cultural mash-up.  It sounded to me like string quartet chamber music followed by Middle-Eastern rhythms resolved with the banjo playing Country. We are told it was JS Bach matched to a traditional Swedish Folk tune.

I’ve Endured comes from Ola Belle Reed. BB sings with a clear high pitch without affectation of accent. Unlike her speaking voice which is a soft Mid-West American with little trace of Kiwi. They both combine beautifully on this, singing close to the classic Bluegrass sound.  The banjo leads and starts high and ringing, then comes tumbling down and races helter-skelter.

They do the same revving-up on the Carter Family’s Lonesome For You. Flat-picking guitar and and furiously ringing banjo to blistered fingers.

A number of Tony Rice tunes. Along with Doc Watson, Tim O’Brien, Norman Blake.

Sittin’ on Top of the World and there is some Jazz in the first banjo solo, fast electric guitar sounds from the second.

A very impressive masterclass of virtuosity. Bluegrass and then some.

 You, Me, Everybody

You, Me, Everybody are a current New Zealand acoustic super-group fast gaining a reputation for blending Bluegrass, Country and Folk with some Jazz and spice added to the mix. Their membership explains their eclecticism. Young brothers Laurence Frangos-Rhodes and Sam Frangos-Rhodes come from a family Bluegrass outfit, Rhode Works. Nat Torkington is a stellar banjo-picker from Bluegrass quartet Pipi Pickers. Kim Bonnington is a distinctive Country vocalist and James Geluk bends the acoustic bass sounds for the Frank Burkitt Band.

Their brand-new album Southern Sky is a mix and meld of classic and contemporary Americana with fluid and natural interplay between instruments. It is not too far from the Band’s second album. Quiet and under-stated but full of treasures and complexity.

On stage they turn up the volume and tempo and and give it more Rock’n’Roll spirit. Without losing any of the interplay and variety. Like Devil in a Bottle of Whiskey. A bit rowdy and it swings with some nice ensemble singing. You could picture Levon Helm singing this.

The same with Wrong Side of the Law. The story of Richard Burgess the outlaw and the Gold Rush times on the wild West Coast.

Throughout their two sets the banjo rolls and tumbles and races along to provide that distinctive Bluegrass sound. And in the space between the mandolin picks it up and carries the melody line.

Kim has a fine Country voice. Don’t Hide Me Away rocks out as the strings play fast and seamless.

She can be soulful with a bit of Jazz as on You Do. Or quite emotive and evocative on a heavily Gospel-influenced Walk with Me. You don’t have to walk that lonesome valley.

All songs on the album and EP are originals from Laurence and Kim.

Rhode Works

Rhode Works are the original family Bluegrass band of the two Frangos-Rhodes brothers. Completed by third and youngest brother Nate Frangos-Rhodes and mother Tracy on doghouse bass.

They have a distinctively Folk style and a softer Bluegrass tone with mandolins, guitars and the occasional violin.

How I long to see your smile and with nice close harmony singing and warm melodies they sound a lot like the Milk Carton Kids.

They stood out when I first saw them four years ago. They have increased their repertoire.

Gentle on my Mind is the John Hartford classic. Nice and peaceful with some virtuoso playing.  Black and White Rag is done well on guitar and mandolin with nice fluid interplay.

Laurence also makes bespoke acoustic guitars which is impressively immersive.

Bob Dylan’s Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright is given a bit of a Jazz treatment as the band stretch out on this one. Dylan would appreciate the fresh approach on one he freely admits to nicking from Paul Clayton.

A softer sound than their current project YMB but with close to the same virtuoso playing.

Wires and Wood

Wires and Wood are an impressive Bluegrass quartet whenever they make an appearance. Michael Young from Albi and the Wolves on mandolin and lead vocals. Brian Christianson banjo, Dave Warren guitar and Garry Trotman acoustic bass.

They turn up at Folk and Bluegrass clubs and festivals. They have a Tui Award-winning album. Mix covers and originals.

Like Hot Rize’s Nellie Kane. Classic banjo rings Earl Scruggs style.

Trotman is a prolific writer. He can pick up on the humour of classic Bluegrass outfits as they performed in the Forties and Fifties. I Got Scrugged in Lester’s Flatt is also a reminder of the Beverly Hillbillies.

Bluegrass possibly became international when this popular show aired and Flatt and Scruggs played the theme tune Ballad of Jed Clampett. I remember it in early primary school. Remember one TV channel in black and white. No internet but radio.

A large part of the audience at this festival look like they have come in on the Ryman Express.

For this festival Wires and Wood play close to classic Bluegrass sound with songs like Ballad of Sally Ann, This Heart of Mine and Bill Monroe’s Sitting Alone in the Moonlight. Their original songs fit in seamlessly.

An accomplished Bluegrass outfit. There should be dancing by the lake at twilight.

Rev Orange Peel