The Harbour Union Announce National Tour

The Harbour Union is a collective of musicians from Lyttleton and surrounds who've come together to support their community which has been hard hit by the Christchurch Quakes.

Lindon Puffin, Delaney Davidson, The Eastern, The Unfaithful Ways, and The Tiny Lies, Al Park and Runaround Sue make up the group who released an album of new and re-imagined songs in May to help raise funds for businesses and people in the area.

Now the collective are embarking on a nationwide tour to raise further awareness for their cause, here are the dates...

Thurs 8 Sept - The Aurora Centre, Christchurch
Sat 10 Sept - Chicks Hotel, Dunedin
Wed 14 Sept - 1885 Auckland
Sat 17 Sept - The Free House, Nelson (with The Eastern)
Wed 21 Sept - Mighty Mighty, Wellington (with The Eastern & Barry Saunders)
Thurs 22 Sept - St Peters Town Hall, Paekakariki (with The Eastern)

Tickets on sale now from here at Undertheradar. You can also buy a copy of the album with your tickets and pick it up at the show.

Press Release:

When musicians band together to offer their response to an issue, an event or a cause, its common to hear a collective groan and whisper among their audience and critics - suddenly we are meant to believe that these self-mythologisers actually…gulp…’care’. It can be laughable, it can be sad, yet now and again it can work.

A band of Lyttelton musicians gathering under the moniker “The Harbour Union” have hunkered down together, recorded some songs and have been hustling them into as many hands who want them, in exchange for cash.

Lyttleton boasts a thriving artistic community that was hit hard by the February earthquake. Several music venues and cafes perished, such as the iconic establishments Harbour Light, Wunderbar, The Volcanic Café, El Santo (The British Hotel) and The Empire Hotel.

The events and challenges faced by Christchurch compelled these locals to utilise their talents to help raise money for the community, so they made a record of, for, and about their community, the profits and proceeds of which will find their way back to Lyttelton and to the folks who need it.

To date, Harbour Union album sales have exceeded a mighty 1,400 copies reaching No. 18 in the NZ charts for the second week of May. This compelled the Lyttleton collective to embark on a National tour beginning in CHCH on September 8th.

TOUR DATES:

Thurs 8 Sept The Aurora Centre ChCh $15 8pm start
Sat 10 Sept Chicks Hotel Dunedin $15 9pm start
Wed 14 Sept 1888 Auckland $10 9pm start
Sat 17 Sept The Free House Nelson $15 9pm start (with The Eastern)
Wed 21 Sept Mighty Mighty Wellington $15 9pm start (with The Eastern & Barry Saunders)
Thurs 22 Sept St Peters Town Hall Paekakariki $10 8pm start (with The Eastern)

The album consists of thirteen new or re-imagined songs from a collective of musicians featuring some of the harbour basin’s best known, and best kept secrets:

THE EASTERN - A string band that roars like a punk band, swings like a gospel band, drinks like a country band, works like a bar band, hopes like folk singers, sings love songs like union songs, writes union songs like love songs, and wants to slow dance and stand on tables, all at the same time. They’ve toured with and opened for Fleetwood Mac, Steve Earle, Old Crow Medicine Show, The Jay hawks, Jimmy Barnes amongst others. With two well selling records and three e.p.s to their credit they show no signs of quitting.

DELANEY DAVIDSON - To most people homelessness means failure. Davidson has embraced it as a career choice and seems to turn it into some sort of success. For the last ten years he has been a touring machine, joining forces with folks like Holly Golightly and Voodoo Rhythm’s Reverend Beatman. 2010 saw him release his 3rd solo Album Self Decapitation and tour from March until the end of December. Davidson has been well received in USA, Europe and Ausrtralia.

LINDON PUFFIN - Lindon Puffin first rose to national prominence as frontman & songwriter of ‘The Puffins’ in the mid 1990’s. Several years later he relaunched his career as a solo folk-punk act supporting international artists such as Tenacious D and Billy Bragg. With two solo albums under his belt, late last year Lindon returned to the studio with highly respected producer Wayne Bell and an all-star band of NZ musicians to record his third solo album called Hope Holiday slated for release in winter 2011.

THE UNFAITHFUL WAYS - Blending the mystical lyricism of writers like Townes Van Zandt and Gene Clark with an inborn flair for strong melodies and three-part harmony, this band’s music stays true to the age-old themes of "love and loss and everything in between". They have garnered a healthy reputation in New Zealand, issuing an EP in 2009, supporting international acts such as Band of Horses and Justin Townes Earle, and appearing at 2011's Big Day Out. On the back of a publishing deal with Native Tongue, their debut album is set to be released this year.

THE TINY LIES - Charlotte Ivey and Harley Williams are 'The Tiny Lies', an Alt-Folk-Country act who have been writing and performing songs together since mid 2009. The live sound of the Tiny Lies is beguilingly simple: Williams plays acoustic guitar, Ivey plays harmonica and both contribute to vocals. The duo tend to write about loss, loneliness and the frustrations of relationships. That said, their sound isn't necessarily depressing, but rather melancholic and reflective.

AL PARK- One of Christchurch music’s most enduring icons, from his days as a leading light in the city punk scene as founder of the mighty ‘Vapour and the Trails’ as well as owning Christchurch’s most famous punk venue, Mollet St, Al is also familiar as the leader of the infamous ‘Louie and the Hotsticks’, Christchurch’s ‘80’s ska rock’n’roll kings. More recently known as the name behind Al’s Bar, one of the city’s biggest and most popular live music venues, Al has hosted everyone from Black Rebel Motor Cycle Club to Amanda Palmer to Justin Townes Earle. Al is seen as one of Lyttelton’s most well thought of residents and godfather to most young musicians in the town and city beyond.

RUNAROUND SUE - Lyttelton’s newest country singers have thrilled audiences all overthe city with their gospel infused country twang. The Vicar’s daughter sings but keeps the band supplied with liquor and the audience with soaring vocals and a shimmy to put even the most flexible juke jointer to shame. Having lost their debut album in the earthquake they’re thrilled to offer up Weeping Willow in tribute for the Harbour Union record.