Carol Bean
About Carol Bean from Wellington
Mt Misery Band
In the northern reaches of Wellington's misty hills there actually is a bush clad hill called Mount Misery where, long ago, soldiers were posted to guard the town. Our songs tell about those soldiers, about women on trains, about old cars left to die in the yard, and about men who give up true love for music and a life on the road. You’ll hear about a young John Henry who buys a Chevrolet, and we'll give you the news about the Hard Drive Blues. Mt Misery played for the 2007 festival in the South of the Divide concert and have been asked back to guest for 2008. This string band, backed by Barry Carter on bass and Jesse Melrose on drums, is a dynamic mix of acoustic tones.
The Mt Misery Band are experienced, skilful and versatile musicians. Sparkling instrumentals are provided by Costa Botes on banjo and Beltona resonator guitar, Andrew Delahunty on mandolin, and Richard Klein’s soaring fiddle. Carol Bean’s compelling, agile and expressive vocals are enough on their own to command one’s complete attention” (Peter Dyer, WBS 2007).
Carol Bean www.carolbean.com www.myspace.com/carolbeanmusic
Born in England and raised in Los Angeles, Carol drew upon the musical genres of the region to create her own style. “I drove between LA and San Francisco so often (at one stage I was Mike Bloomfield’s chauffer) to see musicians like John Fahey, Ry Cooder, Grateful Dead, Frank Zappa and Paul Butterfield. Those trips influenced my song writing more than anything else. I love being on the road and my own music sounds great in the car.” Carol was a featured guest at the Auckland Folk Fest last year. She fronts a blues band called Blue Highways and Mt Misery is her idea of bringing blues into bluegrass.
Accompanied by her partner Lester 'Lips' Mundell on harmonica, Carol will be presenting a workshop at the festival called Songs from the Ash Grove. “Blues rock is in her blood from teenage years in LA listening to blues musicians like ‘Mance Lipscomb and Mississippi John Hurt at the legendary Ash Grove venue.” (Liz Barry, NZ Musician Magazine)
Richard Klein is the front man for the ArKay Cajun Band and also the Junior RKs who are playing for the festival this year on Friday night. When Richard’s Winnie Winston Memorial Band took to the stage last year, most of the audience got up and danced through the whole set. There’s nothing like Cajun music to stir the feet and the soul. In his spare time, Richard runs a famous restaurant, the Wellington chapter of the International Slowfood Movement and a food import business.
Costa Botes has been playing guitar since he was 13; which was a long time ago, so he should have been a great deal better at it by now. But in a world full of superlative guitar players, even a half pie banjo plucker can make a welcome noise, which is how he hooked up with the Accidental Tourists and the Mt Misery Band. Occasionally, they even let him play guitar. In his spare time he writes and directs movies: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Botes.
Born and bred in Wellington, Andrew Delahunty grew up in a folk music-oriented household and by his late teenage years was playing in blues and jug bands. He has played at many folk venues and festivals since then. Currently he plays and records with the Windy City Strugglers, holds down the mandolin chair in Wellington string band the Accidental Tourists and has been playing with the Mt Misery Band since last year. He also plays guitar and harmonica.
Barry Carter is an experienced musician and comes with a great pedigree from playing as a multi-instrumentalist in the U.S. for Kate McLeod and Anke Summerhill. He is also a filmmaker and a recording engineer. One of the projects he has worked on since leaving the Film School was with Carol and Costa on a documentary about local blues hero Dave Murphy, which was accepted to screen at the 2008 NZ Film Festival. Barry plays guitar in a folk trio called INISH, which performs his original songs. He accompanied John Sutherland on bass and percussion at the 2007 Wellington Folk Festival, and will be on bass in the Mount Misery line up at the 2008 Wellington Folk Festival. http://www.barrycarter.com/
Carol Bean
www.carolbean.com
www.myspace.com/carolbeanmusic
PressGo
92 Burma Road
Wellington, New Zealand 6035
ph +64 4 970 7850
cell +64 (0)27 3590 884
pressgoproductions@gmail.com
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