2025 events are listed below
(either page down or click on specific event for more detail)
jam sessions and banjo workshops
The jam sessions are run on the second Sunday of the month, year-round. The old-time jam is 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! The Banjo Workshops (booking essential) are between 3pm and 5pm.
Second Sunday – Old Time and Bluegrass Music Jam Sessions
Second Sunday – Banjo Workshop
1st November – Triple bill – Hihi and the Stitchbirds and more
29th October – Dusty Lands
6th September – The Cattlestops
25th July – The Eastern with guest Rob Joass
12th July – Andrew London and the Swing Voters
7th June – Adam McGrath (with special guests the Bidibids)
23rd May – Rufous Whistler (Aus) and Butter Wouldn’t Melt
6th April – Richie Stearns Banjo Workshop
5th April – Richie Stearns Concert
22nd March – The Carol Bean Band
7th March – The Bitter Brothers
21st February – Mark Mazengarb presents The Petersens (Little Theatre, Lower Hutt)
1st February – Rain Of Animals (UK)
31st January – BB and Alex (USA)
Second Sunday each month – Jam Sessions and Banjo workshop
Held on the second Sunday afternoon of each month between 2pm and 3:30pm for the Old Time Music jam session and 3:30pm to 5pm for the Bluegrass Music jam session – now at the Alicetown Community House. The Banjo Workshop is 3pm to 5pm.
Saturday 1st November – Triple bill – Hihi and the Stitchbirds and more
Hihi and The Stitchbirds are going from strength to strength. The songwriting is flowing and evolving, new instruments are being acquired, and the band are excited for what might happen next. After a packed-out EP launch last year for their EP On A Good Day, they are thrilled to be returning to Wellington Bluegrass Society at Abandoned Petone on Saturday 1st November. Their next dream is to record a full album of their original songs – perhaps on another good day in Wellington!
Hihi and The Stitchbirds are: Elena Saunders – vocals and vibes, Chris Goldsbury – guitar, clarinet and vocals, Tessa Luff – guitar, banjo ukulele and vocals, Matt Hutton – bass ukulele and vocals, and Ellie Stewart – fiddle and vocals.
Two acts will also perform on the night. First is Tessa Luff, who is the main song-writing powerhouse behind Hihi and The Stitchbirds. With natural musicality pulsing through her veins, Tessa experiments with melody and rhythm and brings an ethereal mix of life’s raw highs and lows to her songwriting. For the very first time she will perform her works solo and the audience are in for a rare treat.
Second are The Elderflower Experiment, a charming trio of singer-songwriters priding themselves in story-telling through song. They combine tight vocal harmonies with folk inspired strings, to take you on journeys of love and loss and the spaces in between. The Elderflower Experiment are: Tessa Luff – vocals and guitar, Ellie Stewart – vocals and fiddle, and Elena Saunders – vocals and vibes.
Wednesday 29th October 7:30pm – concert featuring Dusty Lands
Dusty Lands are an acoustic folk quartet based in Whangarei. Blending American folk with their unique Northland campfire style, Dusty Lands invites you to join them for their first ever performance for an evening of luscious harmonies, soulful songwriting, banjos, mandolins and resonators.
The genesis of the band began with Val and Leah Land, mother and daughter, from their roots in the Hokianga where they have been singing round the fire as long as they can remember – hymns, kapa haka waiata, folk, pop and more. The last ten years have seen them performing as two thirds of the trio Harmony Couch in slots at folk clubs, ceilidhs, Irish pub sessions, pop-up folk gatherings and the Auckland Folk Festival.
Gary Smyth, tugboat captain and one of the greatest songwriters to emerge from Northland, then joined them on stage. Gary is currently working on his debut album inspired by artists like Gregory Alan Isakov and Mandolin Orange.
Rounding out the quartet is Gary’s (distant) cousin, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Dusty Burnell. Winner of the Tui Folk Award twice as a member of both T-Bone and The Frank Burkitt Band, Dusty is a familiar face on stages throughout Aotearoa.
Saturday 6th September – Concert at the Abandoned Taproom – The Cattlestops
Celebrating twenty-one years of fine musicianship, this cowboy jazz country quartet are back on the road sharing their excellent songs and performance with and all.
With three CDs under their belt, of all original songs, and having performed on and contributed music for the NZ film ‘Secondhand Wedding’, featuring none other than the celebrated John Rowles, this band from the Kapiti Coast are performing the last in their latest mini cluster of great shows.
James Cameron on bass, Wayne Mason on keys, Evan Williams on drums and Andrew London on guitar will have you rocking and singing along to their stellar collection of songs.
Friday 25th July – Concert at the Abandoned Taproom – The Eastern, in association with the Wellington Bluegrass Society (with special guest Rob Joass)
The Eastern are a string band that roars like a punk band, that swings like a gospel band, that drinks like a country band, that works like a bar band, that hopes like folk singers, and sings love songs like union songs, and writes union songs like love songs, and wants to slow dance and stand on tables – all at the same time. Four albums and well over a thousand shows deep, The Eastern have played and toured with Fleetwood Mac, Steve Earle and Old Crow Medicine Show amongst others, ticking off miles, countries and new friends and fans wherever they get to roaming.
‘No Depression’ magazine noted they were “One of the best modern roots acts, from any country”. Both Radio NZ and the NZ Herald described them as “National Treasures” and The Heralds Graham Reid called singer Adam McGrath “NZ’s toughest minded songwriter”. NZ country legend Barry Saunders simply called them “The Truth.”
Built around the songs of 2024 New Zealand Music Awards Folk Artist of the Year Adam McGrath, and banjo legend Jess Shanks, The Eastern continue to prove they are a band of brothers and sisters you can’t help but believe in.
Saturday 12th July – Concert at the Abandoned Taproom – Andrew London and the Swing Voters
A Tip of The Hat to Western Swing – Andrew London and The Swing Voters
‘Western swing is the hybrid of jazz and country music which neither would invite into their home’
“I was never much of country music fan until in my 30s when a friend introduced me to Asleep at The Wheel – a band from Texas who played something called Western Swing. I’m not sure I had ever heard that term, but I certainly knew a lot about swing music, having been immersed in Nat King Cole, Sinatra, Basie, Armstrong, Fitzgerald, Condon and Goodman throughout my childhood. My father was an avid jazz fan and I left home with a mental hard drive full of it.
“Like most other baby-boomer musicians, I started life as a rock and blues player, but in my 20s began singing the GAS (Great American Songbook) professionally. I learned how to adapt my blues-based guitar style to the songs of the Gershwins, Porter, Carmichael, Rodgers and Hart etc, and some ‘jump’ band standards by Louis’s Jordan and Prima, some blues by W. C. Handy and various Muddies, B.B.s and Sonny Boys. And now here’s this bunch of Texas cowboys playing my repertoire – not with saxophones, clarinets and trumpets, but guitars, fiddles and accordions. I learned that it had been popularised around Texas and Oklahoma in the 30s and 40s by a guy called Bob Wills, whose band was called the Texas Playboys. I was hooked.
“I was playing in a trio called Hot Club Sandwich at the time, with Wellington jazz legend Terry Crayford. Lots of jazz musicians look down on the Western Swing genre as being a bit unsophisticated or ‘hokey’, but Terry took to it as enthusiastically as I had, and we nicked lots of AATW’s repertoire. We also played occasionally with local bass player and crooner James Cameron of the Velox Brothers, who was also a Western Swing fan and had a big deep baritone voice not unlike Ray Benson’s. James and I went on to form The Cattlestops with Western Swing being a big focus.
“In the early 2000s we were playing at a jazz festival in Nelson and encountered a terrific guitarist called Bob Heinz. Bob was writing a book on jazz theory at the time and teaching at the Christchurch Jazz School, but turned out to be a big Western Swing fan as well. We ended up recording an album together called “Ridin’ with Bob”, after a song I wrote about him. Coincidentally, Asleep at The Wheel also put an album out that year, a tribute to Bob Wills called “Riding With Bob”. I doubt they ever noticed ours, but I was momentarily mortified when I saw their new CD in the shops (there were such things in those days).
“With both The Cattlestops and Bob Heinz in semi-retirement, and Terry having hung up his gigging boots, I like to take every opportunity to play this music. Kirsten enjoys it as much as I do and it seems to be home territory for our frequent collaborator Wayne Mason, whose rollicking piano style suits it perfectly. We have a rehearsal session every now and again to learn some new (or old) numbers and end up grinning at each other like loonies.
“I’ve played occasional gigs with Nick Granville over the years – a wonderful guy and accomplished player in any style. He and Wayne recorded the final Cattlestops album with James and me, and it’s easy to tell that he digs ‘Cowboy Jazz’ as well.
“As a writer of very Kiwi-centric songs, I do feel the incongruity of playing a repertoire that’s so rooted in the American south-west, but that is the nature of our pop-cultural heritage, as evidenced by the popularity of country and bluegrass music generally, not just in NZ but all over the world. And it reminds me of Bonanza, Clint Eastwood and the Lone Ranger.”
– Andrew London
Saturday 7th June – concert at the Abandoned Taproom – Adam McGrath (with special guests the Bidibids)
Widely known in New Zealand as lead singer and songwriter of one of the country’s most beloved and mythical roots bands The Eastern, Adam McGrath continues in the tradition of hard travelling, long touring, long shows and longer nights laid down by his day band. Adam takes on all comers and has played everywhere from lounge rooms to bar rooms, street corners to theatres and a million and one festivals, sometimes he’s even got paid! Any opportunity to play is a good one.
He is also the winner of the 2024 Folk Artist Tui Award at the New Zealand Music Awards.
He hopes for the best, is always ready for the worst and believes in Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, The Clash and anyone doing the best they can. He remains happiest in front of a jukebox as the call for last drinks is given, because jukeboxes are getting harder to find, and last drinks means the lock in is ever closer.
He has been described as a “National Treasure” by Radio New Zealand National and his songs have gathered more than their share of good notice at home and overseas. The NZ Herald called him “NZ’s toughest minded songwriter” and Barry Saunders from kiwi country legends The Warratahs simply described him as “The Truth”.
Friday 23rd May – concert at the Abandoned Taproom – Rufous Whistler (Aus) and Butter Wouldn’t Melt
Hailing from Northeast Victoria, Australia, Rufous Whistler combine raw, heartfelt storytelling with modern arrangements with warm and commanding vocals. Their live shows are dynamic and gripping, featuring guitars, fiddles, mandolin, and harmony rich vocals.
Last year their first three singles from the album landed international airplay, topping charts and quickly amassing over 30,000 streams. Rufous Whistler are now hitting the road with over 30 Australian dates, a New Zealand tour, and their first UK and EU shows, all in support of the release of their debut album National Panic.
Joining Rufous Whistler in NZ are Wellington based Americana-folk band Butter Wouldn’t Melt – Andrea Reid (guitar, vocals), Nick Burfield (guitar, vocals), Cara Rose (fiddle) and Marz Connelly (bass).
Finalist for the 2023 Best Folk Artist Tui Award with their first album 1931, Butter Wouldn’t Melt are the very definition of a grassroots, do-it-yourself band. Every note, every frame, every brushstroke is their own— written, recorded, mixed, mastered, promoted, filmed and designed. They blend folk, Americana and country influences with a distinctly New Zealand flavour, promising an evocative performance defined by their poetic lyricism, powerful harmonies and thought provoking stories.
Butter Wouldn’t Melt are celebrating the release of their sophomore album – Where The Roots Grow Deep, which will be available to buy on the night.
Sunday 6th April – Clawhammer Banjo Workshop – Richie Stearns (USA)
Richie Stearns can teach anyone to play banjo.
This workshop will cater for beginners through to advanced players, who through this workshop can expect insights to his many talents and quality playing technigues of clawhammer banjo.
Saturday 5th April – Concert at the Abandoned Taproom – Richie Stearns (USA)
Get ready for an unforgettable performance by Richie Stearns, living legend of clawhammer banjo. He brings his mesmerising blend of old-time, folk, and world music to the stage at Petone.
Hailing from Upstate New York, Richie has captivated audiences worldwide with his masterful banjo playing and collaborations across multiple genres and continents. From performing with legends including Natalie Merchant, Béla Fleck, Tony Trischka, Rhiannon Giddens, Dirk Powell, Pete Seeger, Old Crow Medicine Show, Rosie Newton and Linda Ronstadt, to recording with Malian bluesman Vieux Farka Touré, Tibetan singer Yungchen Llamo and pop icon David Byrne, Richie’s musical journey spans the globe.
With his childhood friends, Richie co-founded the Finger Lakes GrassRoots Multicultural Festival of Music and Dance, one of the USA’s most renowned roots music festivals, and continues to be a driving force behind it’s success.
Don’t miss this rare opportunity to experience one of America’s finest banjo players performing in New Zealand.
Saturday 22nd March – concert at the Abandoned Taproom – The Carol Bean Band
The Carol Bean Band are very much looking forward to returning to the WBS. Along with Carol and her old Martin guitar are Costa Botes on guitars, George Packard on bass and Andrew Grayson on drums.
These seasoned musos have been working up a new repertoire, ready for their concert on Saturday 22nd March, at the new venue – Abandoned Taproom Petone!
Friday 7th March – Album Launch at the Abandoned Taproom – The Bitter Brothers
The Bitter Brothers are a five-piece band who spin tales of woe, darkness, death, and redemption through the idiom of home-spun original and traditional alternative folk music.
Despite all adversity, they’ve completely updated everything about themselves, including recording an album of their finest music. This is their album launch and on this night, it will be available for the first time on vinyl and CD. In addition they will perform a full concert.
Saddle up for a wild ride with The Bitter Brothers! From sorrowful laments to foot-stompin’ fun, bitterness never sounded so sweet.
Friday 21st February 2025 – Mark Mazengarb presents The Petersens (Little Theatre, Lower Hutt)
The Petersens, one of America’s favourite bluegrass bands, are known for their rich harmonies, heartfelt songs, and deep-rooted connection to the traditions of bluegrass. The Petersens bring a fresh yet nostalgic sound that captivates audiences worldwide. Their first tour of NZ is a chance for New Zealanders to enjoy an authentic taste of American roots music live.
The Petersen children grew up playing music together and in 2003 first heard bluegrass at the Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival. In 2005 the band formed and held their first performance at the First Christian Church of Mountain Grove, Missouri, their mother’s hometown church.
The band were originally composed of siblings Katie on fiddle, Ellen on banjo, Matt on bass, Julianne with song and dance, their mother Karen on mandolin and their father Jon on guitar. Over time Julianne switched to mandolin, Karen switched to bass, and Matt switched to guitar. Jon switched to piano on some of their gospel songs. These early performances were mostly held in local festivals, churches and cafes.
In 2010 the band won the Christian Action Ministries’ Gospel Sing-Off competition at the Sight and Sound Theatre in Branson. Their performance caught the attention of the IMAX Entertainment Complex, where they were invited to play regularly at the Little Opry Theater for the entertainment of local and state residents.
In 2015 the band received international recognition when their banjo player Ellen Petersen competed in the singing reality TV show American Idol, placing in the top 48. In 2017 Emmett Franz joined the band as their resonator guitar player. In 2018 the band placed fourth in the International Bluegrass Music Competition in Nashville. A year later, The Petersens went viral online when their YouTube videos gained international attention and have now reached nearly 250 million views. Katie Petersen composed California and My Ozark Mountain Home. The latter is a tribute to the Ozarks and was named the first official song by the City of Branson in 2023. Julianne Petersen is a multi-talented performer with a history of buck-dancing whilst playing the fiddle at the same time.
The band received praise from music professionals in the United Kingdom, who see the group as unique in the genre of bluegrass music. They have covered songs by other musicians, such as Dolly Parton’s Jolene, which has more than 17 million views on YouTube, and John Denver’s Take Me Home, Country Roads, which gained 20 million views in twelve months.
The Petersens are known for taking the music of the Ozarks to the world and bringing the world to come visit them in the Ozarks. They have toured throughout Ireland, Finland, Canada, The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States, entertaining audiences with their tight harmonies and warm sibling humour.
The Petersens have released eleven music projects including a gospel album, two Christmas albums, and compilations of their popular YouTube songs. They perform full-time, entertaining audiences with their tight harmonies and warm sibling humour. In early 2025, they will embark on a tour of New Zealand, courtesy of Mark Mazengarb.
Saturday 1st February – concert – Rain Of Animals (UK)
Rain Of Animals from the UK are the euphonious collaboration between Pepita Emmerichs (Oh Pep!) and Theodore Barnard (Wire & Wool) and their love of all things mandolin, fiddle, guitar, harmony vocals, bluegrass, oldtime, swing, tunes and songs. Spanning soulful originals to arrangements of classics and gems of rarities you wish you had discovered earlier, their sound is both new and old, unique in it’s instrumental wizardry and musical integrity all at once. Steeped in a passion for acoustic music, the duo formed after an impromptu jam in a legendary Melbourne Irish bar, and in this vein have continued to perform, write and tour together since 2018.
Recorded during the depths of lockdown in rural central Scotland, their album Nali’s World represents the previous few years’ worth of instrumental fiddle tunes that were composed by Pepi And Theo throughout their travels in Australia, Scotland and Europe. The melodies are inspired by treasured landscapes and people they encountered along the way; a guitar, fiddle, and mandolin never far from reach. Self-produced and recorded (playing all instruments including double bass, cello, mandocello and tenor guitar) in their humble home studio, the tracks were then sent to esteemed Nashville engineer Sean Sullivan (Molly Tuttle, Sturgill Simpson) to be mixed. The result is a collection of lush arrangements of emotive tunes that proudly encapsulate the debut Rain Of Animals offering. Since it’s release they have toured extensively throughout the UK, Europe and Australia and collaborated with artists such as Stereo Naked, Harry Bird, Barry Nisbet and Good Guy Hank on various recordings and shows. Most recently ‘Lover Part 1′ was recorded and released in September 23′. It is Rain Of Animals’ first offering in song form and an indication of what is to come in their forthcoming sophomore album!
Friday 31st January – concert – BB and Alex (USA)
BB Bowness and Alex Rubin, with special guest Rob Henderson
BB Bowness (banjo) and Alex Rubin (guitar) from the USA have been making music together for the last decade and continue to bring their euphoric energy to stages around the world. Since first meeting in the vibrant Boston music scene, they have fused their love of bluegrass and traditional roots music into something fresh and unique. Combining their technical mastery with reverence for tradition, Alex and BB are not to be missed.
Alex Rubin
A member of the April Verch Band from 2016-2020, Alex has toured extensively both at home and internationally, including performances in 49 states and abroad. Alex developed a love for acoustic and traditional music while attending Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. Graduating with a degree in Neurobiology in 2011, Alex returned to the vibrant Boston music scene, studying privately with Berklee School of Music’s ineffable John McGann. Since then, Alex has performed around the world on distinguished stages including at Merlefest, Australia’s National Folk Festival, Estonia’s Viljandi Folk Festival, Kaustinen Folk Festival in Finland, the Vancouver Island Musicfest and more. Alex is also the winner of the 2022 Freshgrass Guitar Competition. Currently, Alex lives in Cambridge, MA and is working on a solo acoustic guitar record.
BB Bowness
Born in the small town of Marton, New Zealand, Catherine “BB” Bowness spent her early years working and living in her family’s Fish-and-Chip shop. Although an unlikely origin for a bluegrass banjo player, New Zealand would offer BB her first introduction to the instrument, sparking a lifelong love and fascination. A world away from the heart of bluegrass, BB spent much of her childhood teaching herself the instrument, and through dedication and tenacity became New Zealand School of Music’s first banjo student, graduating with a bachelor of music in jazz performance. After moving to Boston in 2012, she co-founded her current group, Mile Twelve who have won numerous IBMA awards, including 2020 New Artists of the Year. BB won the 2015 Freshgrass Banjo contest and was awarded the Steve Martin Banjo Prize in 2020.
Rob Henderson
known to many through his bass playing with the superb NZ bluegrass band You, Me, Everybody, he got together with BB and Alex in 2024 via an internet video link and they hit it off! Alex and BB were so impressed with their online jam they decided to get together for a special once only NZ show at the Wellington Bluegrass Society!