See below for details on concerts, Society Nights and sessions and workshop.
>> Please refer to each event listing and take note of where it is taking place.
Old time and bluegrass music jam sessions and banjo workshops
These Sunday jam sessions and workshops are currently being held in different venues due to fire at Alicetown Community House in November 2025.
Society Nights
Society Nights will be held on the fourth Thursday of the month, normally at the Abandoned Taproom (but note change of venue for April Society Night only). They start with a Guest Spot by a feature artist or group. The Guest Spot is half a concert, i.e. 45 minutes. This is followed by a tea and coffee break then floorspots and a jam session for one and all.
Admission is generally $20 for general admission, $15 for members or children – includes tea and coffee. Door sales only. (There is also an occasional ‘blackboard’ concert without a featured Guest Spot.)
and much more to come – keep an eye on this website for details for future events!!
Saturday 3rd October 8:00pm – Concert featuring Skin and Bone
From deepest Dunedin comes the quirky quintet known as Skin and Bone. Formed in early 2019 from two of Dunedin’s longest-running contemporary folk and jazz bands Catgut and Steel and The Chaps, Skin and Bone are: John Dodd (bass, vocals), Stephen “Wee Huddy” Hudson (drums, vocals), Mike Moroney (guitar, vocals), Anna Bowen (fiddle, mandolin, vocals) and Emily Sterk (clarinet, saxophone, vocals). They are five
musicians with a pedigree as long as your arm, bringing you a solid repertoire of Western Swing with a decidedly Kiwi bend. Based on the country-jazz sounds of the 30s and 40s, this most danceable band will have you immersed in the tight harmonies and musicianship of ol’ time Americana and Kiwi originals in equal measure.
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 and 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 and are the band of choice of Dunedin dance chapter Swing Riot for their regular Lindy Hop and Blues events and the Dunedin Swing Festival.
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. Be it festivals, dances, concerts or any showcase, Skin and Bone are the entertainment choice that will have brogues tapping, dresses swirling and smiles and earworms to take home.
Skin and Bone, Your Beating Heart – official music video (J Dodd)
WBS Concert featuring Skin and Bone
Saturday 3rd October, 8:00pm
Wellington Bluegrass Society @ Abandoned Taproom Petone
38 Fitzherbert Street
$30/$25 members or children – tea and coffee included
Click here to book for the Skin and Bone concert.
If this link doesn’t work, then please email andrewbicknell2018@gmail.com
Come for dinner before the show! Abandoned Taproom Petone have plenty of tasty treats, and grab a drink (or two) as well:
www.abandonedbrewery.co.nz/taprooms#Petone
Second Sunday each month – Jam Sessions and banjo workshop – Old Time Music and Bluegrass
Old-time Music and Bluegrass jam sessions
second Sunday of each month
2:00 – 5:00pm
Venue: Memelink Artspace, 223 The Esplanade, Petone
Free entry for jam sessions! All welcome!
Jam Sessions
The old-time jam will be the first half (2:00-3:30pm) and bluegrass jam the second half (3:30-5:00pm). You can come for one. or the other, or both! And there are also Banjo Workshops available between 3:00pm and 5:00pm – but booking is essential for these.
All are welcome to play or to listen.
Clawhammer Banjo Workshop
There will be a banjo workshop, for absolute beginners. Running in parallel to the jam session, at the same venue, this will cater for anyone who has either just picked up a banjo, through to getting you up to jamming with others.
Banjo workshop for absolute beginners
3:00 – 5:00pm second Sunday each month
$40 per person (or as advertised) – booking required – please book via email before the day for this event
Please bring:
+ banjo
+ tuner
+ drink bottle
+ some means of taking notes – a recording device is fine
Venue: TBC
Please email andrewbicknell2018@gmail.com to register your interest in this workshop
Wellington Bluegrass Society, Petone New Zealand
for good fun and fine music!