The Longdrops (Auckland)

The Longdrops are the next best unclassifiable band to come out of Auckland's eccentric musical underground. A perplexing and thoroughly entertaining blend of newly acquired instruments, raised eyebrows and theatrics...Longdrops are coming to bemuse you at an unassuming location sometime soon. Who else (in Auckland, at least) can claim to craft melodies poached from the Sound of Music, Count Bassie, Primus, the Wild West, Transylvania, Bruce Springsteen and the hills of Ye Ole Appalachia...all with shifty lyrics, and breakdowns on banjo, uke, fiddle, guitar and bass.

Bob McNeill(Scotland/New Zealand)

An expatriate Scot, Bob McNeill is one of New Zealand's top singer-songwriters and one of the country's best known Folk performers for his work solo and with Ben the Hoose. He has three New Zealand Music Awards, all for Best Folk Album (2001 for Covenant, 2004 for Turn the Diesels and 2006 for Ben the Hoose's debut album The Little Cascade). His songs have been covered by artists in New Zealand, Scotland, Australia and the USA. He now divides his time between New Zealand and Scotland.

McNeill is well known in New Zealand as an accompanist of Celtic music, and often works with touring musicians from Scotland and Ireland, who have mislaid their regular accompanist. His distinctive, highly rhythmic style and inventive chording has made him popular at sessions and gigs around New Zealand. He is a frequent guest on folk albums produced in New Zealand.

Project Albatross (Sweden/New Zealand)

Project Albatross is a Swedish/New Zealand collaboration in contemporary folk and world music. With backgrounds in Klezmer, and Scandinavian, Scottish, French Canadian folk music and Pacific tones, as well as composition and songwriting, the members of Project Albatross are now embarking on a new journey to celebrate the world of music. The project will interpret the various musical traditions, by both honouring their legacies, and exploring it’s possibilities. Through composing, performing and recording new music, they are both forging connections and a whole constellation of sound. And the result? Vibrant, colourful and inventive music for all audiences.

Hanna Wiskari (saxophones, voice) Sweden

Samuel Benge (guitars, banjo, ukelele, voice) New Zealand

Nis Bäckvall (saxophones) Sweden

Louise Evans (violin, voice) New Zealand

Musician Myspace Links

Click her fore Nis Backvall

Click here for Samuel Benge

Click here for Louise Evans

Project Albatross will be touring New Zealand in late January 2010. For more information or to book the band, contact Lamppost Music Email louise@lamppost.co.nz

Habbadam (Denmark ⁄ Sweden)

Habbadam is now on tour! Visit our Schedule page

The Danish/Swedish trio Habbadam plays the music of Bornholm - a small,picturesque island situated in the Baltic Sea. Strong connections can be made to Scandinavian, Baltic and Celtic music. Their repertoire is drawn from the island's extensive archives of traditional folk music. Habbadam perform as an intense and flirty ensemble, between them creating impulsive and intuitive music.

The trio's music possesses as much rhythm and swing as it does sweetness and melancholy - a finely woven sound of past and present. Since Habbadam was founded in 2004 they have toured extensively in Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Scotland, Italy and New Zealand.

In 2008 they won the coveted Danish Folk Music Award for their debut album 'Bornholmsk folkemusik'.

'With capable hands and voices, pristine production, and essential heart and soul, this exciting new trio brings the tunes and songs of the Danish Island of Bornholm to life. I've never been to Bornholm, but hearing Habbadam, I'm tempted to visit soon.' -Tim O'Brien

Ronan Martin & Sandy Brechin (Scotland)

James Fagan & Nancy Kerr, with Kate Fagan (Australia/England)

Eithne Ni Chathain (Ireland)

A multifaceted singer-musican-songwriter who mesmerises with the transcendent quality of her voice and an arresting stage-presence. She sings in Irish (in the sean-nos or old style) and in English, plays exciting fiddle music and also accompanies her singing with piano and guitar with a natural lightness, grace and ease. While drawing deeply on her heritage, Eithne lives in the present and performs in a modern context. She is inspired by a wider world of music and song and incorporates elements of Scottish and Appalachian traditions and echoes of the wonderfully vibrant culture of India.

Caoimhin O Raghallaigh &
Brendan Begley (Ireland)

Genticorum (Canada)