Recorded in Nelson, NZ, 2006.

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About

1861 revisited – my pākeha (European) ancestors, John ‘Totara Jack’ and Mary Edwards, arrived in the South Island of New Zealand on board the Olympus and settled in Nelson¹.

John ‘Totara Jack’ Edwards

When I lived nearby a century and a half later,

• I found the address where they’d lived, just below a spot on a hill that marks the geographical centre of NZ.
• I recorded and toured with South Island musicians;
• studied at the Nelson School of Music – and finally had the chance to learn some ‘conventional’ technique;
• played in Hokitika, Greymouth, Westport, Nelson, Blenheim, Lyttelton and Dunedin
  • (as well as Brisbane, Australia²);
• and recorded the sound of tui and makomako (native birds) in Nelson Lakes National Park.

The early settler stories marked the start of an interest in genealogy, and prompted the music video for The Ballad of William Knife³ (loosely based on ‘Totara Jack’).

In contrast to the ‘traditional’ South Island NZ ‘Flying Nun‘ or The Dead C inspired sounds, South Island Sessions blended acoustic instruments with field recordings and electronic glitches. I played acoustic guitar, banjo and saxophone, and delegated the electric guitar role to two local players. We named this new genre “Steampunk Folktronica“⁴.

Credits

• Dave Black – acoustic guitar (2,6), banjo (3,4,6), drums (4), harmonica (2), laptop, field recordings, tenor saxophone (6,7), and vocals
• Cylvi M – vocals & phat beatz (1)
• Hayden Gifkins – electric guitar (5,7)
• Matthew Thornicroft – electric guitar (5,7)
• Damian ‘Frey’ Stewart – no-input mixing desk (3)
• Cookie – drums (5, 6)

Recorded in Nelson NZ, 2006

Tracklist

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