The Gracious Deviants
About The Gracious Deviants from Wellington
The Gracious Deviants are an acoustic duo based in Wellington, New Zealand. As well as a reasonably accurate description of the band's personalities, "Gracious Deviants" is in fact an anagram of "voices and guitars".
Their sound is pure, unadorned acoustic pop music heavy with harmony and steeped in the traditions of the great New Zealand singer/songwriters of the last thirty years. Their repertoire consists entirely of original material - songs about relationships, about love at every stage from the unrequited to the happy couple, from the first spark to the dying embers.
Old friends from way back, Pete and Darrel finally sat down and decided to write their own material after years of playing other people's. Their first live performance together as the Gracious Deviants was a last-minute leap of faith at Henrietta Ford's Stagecoach Open Mic Night at the Blue Note in Wellington using borrowed gear. Since then they have been catching the ears and eyes of Wellingtonians with their distinctive songs, the lyrics simple and relatable but never plain. Their performances have reminded audiences that music in its most stripped-down form- homegrown, acoustic, and entirely original- can be the most refreshing and novel.
Both Darrel and Pete are strong singers, alternating lead vocals in their songs. Neither of them profess to be "lead guitarist" either, they prefer to accompany themselves with a more egalitarian, rhythmic interplay between their two acoustic guitars. Their goal in every performance is to come across as more than just two people, the sum far greater than its parts.
Thanks to the support of Tyree Roberston, who gave them their first slot on her open mic night called The Henrietta Ford Stagecoach at The Blue Note Bar, The Gracious Deviants evolved beyond the weekend hobby into something more serious. The rest, as they say, is history....
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