OTAGOLANDS features guitarist and songwriter Richard Leschen (founder of the Bunker Hill Folk Review) and guitar virtuoso Nigel Gavin (Jews Brothers, Robert Fripp's League of Crafty Guitarists, Bravura), who needs little introduction. Since the release of the Otagolands’ debut album, the ensemble has toured the North Island and now, finally, makes it southward with dates in Nelson and Marlborough.
Otagolands’ music is a bit of an exemption to the songwriter genre, with free style lyrical roots and instrumentation of improvised guitars, delivering Leschen’s striking narratives to the heart and mind: Like Mo-Town, like Mahler, like the Grateful Dead, like Ravi Shankar, jazzy, bluesy and rootsy.
The group evolved from a studio-live album, The Pleasure of Ruins, that featured Vanessa McGowan (Tattletale Saints, the Caitlin Smith Band) on double bass and background vocals, released last year and recorded at world famous Braeburn Studio, Wellington, by master engineer Robbie Duncan.
“Intimate and ambient, the real richness comes from Leschen’s brilliant lyrics; very melodic, engaging and genuinely far-reaching with significant depth, this is low-key brilliance”. – Ania Glowacz, NZ Musician
...he has the technique and musicality that reminds one of the Koln concert album (Keith Jarrett). We like Nigel Gavin!. – Radio New Zealand
“NZ based singer-songwriter Richard Leschen draws on the deep roots music of his southern US heritage – country, bluegrass, blues – to craft intricate, fascinating songs with a wide geographical sweep, and a wide historical one”. – Nick Bollinger, Radio New Zealand
... dexterous playing...frisky flight...amusingly funky...Mesopotamian folk...elegant...but equally romantic...... unified by Gavin's restraint and sure reading of his melodic compass. . – The New Zealand Herald
“Leschen is a fine guitarist … in fact, I would go as far as to say he is a very fine guitarist. The lyrics are pertinent and the playing flawless”. – Keith Redgrave, Americana UK
