Christchurch acoustic duo take the stage
Hera and Jed Parsons are a duet comprised of one very experienced singer-songwriter (with multiple albums under her belt) teamed up with another equally talented multi-instrumentalist just beginning his musical career. The music that they have written together is uplifting, yet bittersweet; charming yet not without its dark moments: It is a pleasant mixture of clever lyricism mixed with beautiful melodies and vocal harmonies; a luxury not to be missed when in a town near you.
Hera is an award-winning musician who calls New Zealand home, but hails from Iceland where she has had a gold-selling record, support slots for Joe Cocker and Nick Cave, and high-rotation radio play. Her music has taken her all around the world, even to festivals such as SXSW in Texas and the immortal Glastonbury festival in the UK. She has most recently been touring her new album with the Live and Loud Heartland tour with Sleeping Dogs and House of Mountain, a tour which has taken her all over the South Island... and even to Stewart Island.
Jed Parsons has been immersing himself in the Christchurch music scene for some time now; he first came into contact with his current musical peers when he won Mike Chunn's Play it Strange contest, upon the success of which he met and recorded with Ben Campbell (Zed, Atlas). Fast-forward a year until now, and you will find him playing drums regularly in his band House of Mountain. House of Mountain play the dual role of being a band in their own right, and being Hera's backing band for her more upbeat numbers. It is through this association that Hera and Jed first discovered that they were musically compatible - a fledgling, yet promising musical enterprise has been born!
herasings.com; facebook.com/JedParsonsMusic http://www.youtube.com/watch'v=0ezYsjexHkc
HERA
Icelandic born, New Zealand based singer-songwriter Hera, has just released a new album entitled Rattle My Bones. Recorded in both earthquake torn Christchurch, New Zealand and Reykjavik, Iceland, which was recently rocked by volcanoes, it's not hard to see where the inspiration for the album name came from. This album is Hera's fifth studio album, 8th over all excluding compilations and collaborations. Hera has toured the globe for many years playing and touring in Italy, Holland, Greenland, England, Scotland, Wales, Denmark, the United states at the SXSW music festival, the famous Glastonbury festival in the UK and of course Iceland and New Zealand to name a few. She has a gold record in Iceland, and was named 'best female artist' at the Icelandic music awards in 2003, and her song 'Makebelieve' was a finalist in the USA songwriting competition, and went on to become the second most played song on Iceland radio that year, on a station which features an international play-list. She has played several support shows including touring NZ with Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls in 2009 and 2010, opening for Joe Cocker, and two concerts at Iceland's Broadway opening for Nick Cave.
Hera toured Iceland in the summer of 2010 and while there, she recorded 3 tracks, then continued to work on the album in her other home Christchurch - New Zealand. Starting pre-quake at Tandem studios with co-producer and sound engineer Toby Ricketts and talented Christchurch musicians Ben Campbell, Kurt Preston, Moses Robbins (House of Mountain) and with string arrangements by Luke Dissoma among other very special guests
Free Entry-Drink Specials -8pm
