INDEPENDENT NEWS

‘Rural Delivery – NZ Stories in Song’

Published: Fri 21 Feb 2003 09:15 AM
PRESS RELEASE:
‘Rural Delivery – NZ Stories in Song’
AJ Bell and Derek Lind on tour.
"Telling us more about the place we live in than any current headline grabber. Not to be missed." * * * * NZ Herald
‘Rural Delivery – NZ Stories in Song’, as the name suggests, is a tour playing predominately at rural delivery addresses. It is a chance to see two of the country’s most authentic, talented and critically acclaimed voices in alt-country, folk-pop in the very places and surroundings that influence and inform the songs and songwriters themselves.
Heralded by the music critics as national treasures for a catalogue of original New Zealand songs that describe the hearts and minds, feasts and troubled times of everyday Kiwi folk, A.J. & Derek finally team up together to showcase their musical story-telling talents on the road accompanied by the Rural Delivery band and van.
The two-hour Rural Delivery show promises to be a one-of-its-kind intimate musical experience combining storytelling and songs from the five-star rating albums ‘Ragwort Touch’& ‘Hi-biscuit’ by A.J. Bell and ‘Stations’ & ‘12 Good Hours of Daylight’ by Derek Lind.
Saying more about this country than any other headliner, the Rural Delivery tour kicks off in Onewhero then takes in other rural and urban North Island venues where people can soak up this honest and heart-warming, powerful and inspiring songwriting duo. Dates include:
Sat March 1st - Onewhero School Hall, Tuakau 8pm
Sun March 2nd – Nathan Homestead, Manurewa 4pm
Fri March 7th – Boiler Room, Whakatane 8pm
Sat March 8th – Waimana Hall, Waimana 8pm
Fri March 14th – Sawmill Café, Leigh 8pm
Sat March 15th – Kauaeranga Valley Hall, Thames 8pm
Sat March 22nd – Reva’s, Whangarei 9pm
Sat April 5th – King’s Arms Tavern, Auckland 8pm
"A.J.Bell is a songwriter with his feet firmly on NZ soil, taking us on a road trip through the rural North Island of some indeterminate past, pulling up at dairies, pubs and pa along the way. If one could make records out of No 8 fencing wire, this is what they would sound like. . He is singing New Zealand songs to New Zealanders and it sounds great." The Listener
"‘One of our most consistently literate yet most affecting lyricists, Derek Lind is a singer-songwriter who is more than just special, he’s essential." * * * * * NZ Herald
For more information contact: Andrew Bell
Ph/Fx 09 815 1425 - Cell 021 458 622 – Email: cow@xtra.co.nz Rural Delivery, P.O. Box 16-298, Sandringham, Auckland
A.J. Bell - Bio
Andrew J. Bell grew up in the rural Bay of Plenty village of Waimana where his father ran Bell’s Four Square general store, which has been in the family for more than 100 years. His parents, both accomplished local musicians, encouraged their son’s musical adventures, which included an absorbing visit to the southern states of America. He returned to live in Auckland where citing influences as diverse as Robert Scott, Prince Tui Teka, and Paul Kelly he began crafting his unique New Zealand songs.
A.J.Bell’s debut album ‘Ragwort Touch' heralded the emergence of an artist of unquestionable substance and talent. Across the board critical acclaim led to Bell's nomination for Best Album in the NZ Music Awards. The songs resonated with years of experience, keen observation and the refining of the songwriting craft.
The album’s stories were uniquely New Zealand, capturing the disaffected mood of the country at the time in songs which, while having a rural grounding, were shot through with an intelligent urbanism, drawing favourable comparisons with hard bitten American songwriters such as James McMurtry, Joe Henry and the Australian Paul Kelly.
A.J.Bell’s newly released follow-up album ‘Hi-biscuit’ managed to surpass his excellent debut by collecting further praise from the national music press. Loaded with melodic hooks and poetic tenderness, ‘Hi-biscuit’ drew listeners further into Bell’s unique world of love and life in New Zealand.
Derek Lind - Bio
Derek Lind was raised in the Manawatu where his interest in music was also prompted by his parents. His songwriting and solo career happened alongside a Fine Arts degree where he majored in painting. He taught art for ten years, along the way recording several landmark NZ albums.
Derek has since survived as a house painter, carpenter, antique restorer, and by continuing to write, record and tour. He has been a long-time advocate of the development agency Tear Fund and has toured NZ many times on their behalf as well as visiting numerous third-world projects in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Thailand.
Derek has won NZ Music Awards for his albums ‘Strange Logic’ (1988) and ‘Stations’ (1995) and was an APRA Songwriter of the Year finalist in 1991. Several of his albums have been released in the USA where Derek has played international festivals and found himself increasingly drawn to the work of the alt-country writers and great storytellers of music – Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, John Prine, James McMurtry, and Greg Brown.
‘12 Good Hours of Daylight’ is album number six for Derek and follows a string of critically lauded releases from an artist who has been resolute and uncompromising throughout his musical journey. Derek has never sought, nor been particularly interested in chart success, video exposure, or the indulgences of popular musical culture. Rather, he prefers to make music which resonates with honesty and integrity and which faithfully documents his own observations, beliefs and emotions about life in his native New Zealand.
A.J. Bell - Press
'Four years ago Auckland singer-songwriter A.J.Bell released a debut album, Ragwort Touch, that had reviewers, this one included, reaching for their bag of rare superlatives. Bell’s long-overdue follow-up Hi-Biscuit is another album of lyrical depth and gentle musical textures driven by quiet consideration, understatement and keenly refined observations. The second of an almost perfect pair.’ * * * * NZ Herald
‘A songwriter of undeniable talent. An insightful, charming, and powerfully rendered discovery. Another exceptional album from the Auckland-via-Austin and Waimana songwriter. In any other country, Bell would be an icon.’ * * * * * The Dominion.
‘Every so often, you stumble across an album which moves, delights and startles you with its wit and skill. Listening to Ragwort Touch was like finding treasure in long grass.’ * * * * * Sunday News.
‘A.J. Bell re-affirms my faith in New Zealand-made music and rightfully claims his place among those who have helped compile it’s impressive musical legacy’. Otago Daily Times
‘A.J.Bell is a songwriter with his feet firmly on NZ soil, taking us on a road trip through the rural North Island of some indeterminate past, pulling up at dairies, pubs and pa along the way. If one could make records out of No 8 fencing wire, this is what they would sound like. He is singing New Zealand songs to New Zealanders and it sounds great’ The Listener
Derek Lind - Press
‘One of our most consistently literate yet most affecting lyricists, Derek Lind owes much to the school of Texas storytellers but also brings his own astute local observations. There’s humanity and compassion in these songs, which are often deeply personal but embrace universal truths. Here’s a singer-songwriter who is more than just special, he’s essential. ’ * * * * * NZ Herald
‘Derek Lind is something of a New Zealand legend regularly compared to artists like Bruce Cockburn and Bob Dylan. Though he is twice winner of the New Zealand Music Industry’s Gospel Album of the Year Award and Silver Scroll Finalist, his music is still under-appreciated both in New Zealand and abroad. My recommendation: To hear an exceptionally powerful album, with a hypnotic, understated musical depth I would encourage you to get your hands on 12 Good Hours of Daylight.’ Phantom Tollbooth
‘A definite master of his craft, Derek Lind has carved out his own distinctive style that transcends fleeting musical fads. As with his previous albums, I’ll still be listening to this many years from now.’ NZ Musician
‘The tales and towns of the songs on this album are warm, dry and at home in Derek Linds company. To listen to 12 Good Hours of Daylight is to readjust to a more down-to-earth, folk/country outlook on life in this world, and to a slower, wiser pace with a natural humanity’. Real Groove

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