Aotearoa folk-blues musician Darren Watson released his new album Getting Sober For The End Of The World on 25 September, and it's steadily been climbing the NZ Charts. In support of this he's hitting Port Chalmers for an intimate solo gig with country-folk trio The Dauphin of Mississippi & the Good Doctors who are passing through on an album tour before moving back to the states.
Doors at 7:20 PM. Darren Watson at 8 pm. Intermission. Dauphin at 9 pm. Music till 10 pm. (Shuttles at 10:10~ pm and 11:10~ pm)
$25 + BF presale / $30 cash on the door
Cash Refreshments
Getting Sober for the End of the World is full of a diverse range of stories in song - from the upbeat title track about giving up the party life just as Earth teeters on apocalypse, to the poignant ballad of worker's rights martyr 'Ernie Abbott' who in 1984, as the Wellington Trades’ Hall caretaker, was murdered in one of New Zealand’s most infamous acts of domestic terrorism. The case is still unsolved and Watson exquisitely asks “…who put Ernie Abbot’s soul in God’s hands?” Swinging from contemplative to grooving, Mavis Staples guitar Rick Holmstrom brings his trademark swampy guitar to the laid-back feel-good 'Alison Jane'. These new songs show us one of New Zealand's best songwriter's at the height of his craft as both a writer and performer--or as RNZ's Nick Bollinger says, So few notes, so much music.
“If Ry Cooder had a long-lost New Zealand cousin, it would be Darren Watson. In 'Getting Sober For the End of the World', you can smell the crawfish étouffée bubbling on the stove while a New Orleans first line shuffles and slinks past the window, the lyrics carrying you along with the unifying connection of music and humanity.”
Tami Neilson
Anyone who thinks only Americans can authentically sing the blues should listen to this album by the New Zealander Darren Watson. It’s outstanding from beginning to end – the finest acoustic blues CD this reviewer has heard in quite some time.
Blues Matters Magazine (UK)
With:
The Dauphin of Mississippi & the Good Doctors
A gadabout halfheartedly searches the byways and backroads of America for his lost love.
A teenage boy thinks he's finally going to become a man, only to crash his new Camaro.
A third grade child gets bullied into aquiescence and lifelong subservience.
A middle-aged man explains his wet-weather fashion choices to a kid behind a liquor store counter.
These are just a few narratives that lead editor Paul Riley of Country Music People magazine (U.K.) to call the Book of Vanities an entertaining winner! all the while taking a gander at the lines between heroism & humiliation, courage & cowardice, love & loss, and hope & despair.
The first tour supporting his newest album brings the Dauphin of Mississippi to Port Chalmers for an intimate night of songs accompanied by the Good Doctors-- the Crafty Italian of Florence, multi-instrumentalist Dr. Giacomo Giorli (Infamous Bourbon Boys, Melling Station Boys), and Dr. Claire Ellen Lukens on background vocals. The Book of Vanities features the likes of 14-time Grammy winner Dan Tyminski on fiddle, flatpicking wunderkind Seth Taylor on Mandolin, Smith Curry on Steel, and Living bluegrass meme Tony Wray on guitar and banjo.
“Dauphin, Jason Burge. Great, great songwriter. Quite an ability to draw in listeners with narratives in the songwriting. Beautiful. Absolutely gorgeous.”
Grady Kirkpatrick, Wyoming Public Radio
Treat yourself to an evening with a man who will definitely entertain you. He'll make you laugh. He'll take you deep,...and remind you that you have a soul.
Jamie Macphail, Sitting Rooms Sessions, Hawkes Bay, NZ
“One of those relaxed country voices that needs to be heard...a fine songwriter....melodic foot-tapping country music delight....several quality ballads...Buy this album. 4.5/5 Stars”
Paul Riley, Country Music People Magazine (U.K.)
Plays a mean guitar and sings songs and tells tales that’ll have y’all laughing, crying, and all points in between! .... his songs are hugely literate and intensely melodic. But for that one lucky roll of the dice, he’d be known far and wide.
Rob Habers, Ambient Light, Auckland, NZ
