Introducing the unique southern swing unit that is
SKIN & BONE
From deepest Dunedin to Te Ika-a-Māui comes the quirky quintet known as Skin & Bone. Five superb musicians, with a pedigree as long as your arm, bring you a solid Western Swing repertoire with a decidedly Kiwi bent. Based on the country-jazz sounds of the 30’s and 40’s, this most danceable band will have you foot-tapping, laughing and immersing yourselves in the tight harmonies and musicianship of ol’ time Americana and Kiwi originals in equal measure.
On the back of their recent appearance at the Whare Flat and Canterbury Folk Festivals, and their recently released album Last Bus to Brockville, they bring their particular schtick to the South of the North in a whirlwind four-day tour of Carterton, New Plymouth, Palmerston North and Wellington.
Formed in early 2019 from two of Dunedin's longest-running contemporary folk and jazz units Catgut & Steel and The Chaps, Skin & Bone are:
John Dodd (bass, vocal),
Stephen “Wee Huddy” Hudson (drums, vocal)
Mike Moroney (guitar, vocal)
Anna Bowen (fiddle, mandolin, vocal)
Emily Sterk (clarinet, saxophone, vocal)
In their self-styled genre of Cowboy Lounge, they have no peer. Drawing heavily on the legacy of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, The Mills Brothers, Leon Redbone and others of their ilk, Skin & Bone bring their swing styles to the Great American Songbook and add plenty of their own quirky original songs to every performance. With five diverse singers, their arrangements are predictably vocal-forward and well harmonised; with fiddle, mandolin and clarinet lines at once both authentic in style and unique.
Locally, they have become the darlings of the young and vibrant swing dance scene; the band of choice of Dunedin dance chapter Swing Riot for their regular Lindy Hop and Blues events and national swing festival. Be it festivals, dances, concerts or any showcase, Skin & Bone are the entertainment choice that will have brogues tapping, dresses swirling and smiles and earworms to take home.
Knocked my possum socks off! Lorina Harding: singer/songwriter
Facebook: www.facebook.com/skinandboneswingband
7:30pm Thursday 1st October
$40 Adult
$32 Senior/Beneficiary/Student
In the musical trenches, we divide musicians between civilians or soldiers, civilians come and go but soldiers are forever. Lifers, drawn into the big music and the big spirit, you can spot them if you look hard enough, they're often the quietest, the least celebrated (by the public at least but if you talk to those who know, then there's always a nod, "Soldiers"), but they started before you knew what anything ever was, and they've seen everything and been everywhere you've been and more, they've played for everyone and will eternally do so, with the Mana growing bigger every round and the stories too, and that look in the eye that they can see through stuff you can't, and which also tells you that if no-one was there to hear or see them play they'd do it anyway, because it means so much.
I wanna get there one day, but Skin and Bone arrived at the station a long ways ahead, true players in their own right as individuals together it’s something else, grace and joy and smarts and fun and heart and the big right feelings. Long may they run, they are worth every ticket and every record they sell. And long may you run after them hoping for a t-shirt or maybe just one more song.
I'm a believer
Adam McGrath, Singer songwriter, wannabe lifer
