Blues, Soul, Rock 'n' Roll & Rudity from boogie favourites
STOREHOUSE
&
WILLIAM JOHN HOOKER
Notorious Auckland beat combo Storehouse have flown firmly beneath the good-taste radar since the turn of the century, delivering unhinged boogie to such exotic locales as Salt Lake City, Zurich, Oamaru and Karangahape Road.
Identifying a silvery thread of surrealism in blues, calypso and spirituals, Storehouse mainman Tom Rodwell (“Sheffield’s answer to Lightnin’ Hopkins”, NME) is joined by groove titans Chris O’Connor and Count Bassy.
Rodwell’s 2021 LP Wood & Waste was named one of iconic NZ music journalist Graham Reid’s top albums of the year, charted on US radio - notching up heavy rotation for 6 months statewide - and secured international distribution with Cargo Records UK.
You don't hear that anymore. Beautiful groove, beautiful tunes! - Derek Trucks.
Rodwell manages to eschew the clichés that beset blues music. By turns wild, angry, hypnotic and sensual, it's as uncompromising as it is funky and some of the best live music I've seen. - Blues in London.
It’s rare these days to find an original take on the blues, even in its land of origin, but the freshest blues I’ve heard in a long time comes from this local musician. His name is Tom Rodwell… You won’t find a more individual, eclectic, rhythmically compelling approach to this music, anywhere.” - Nick Bollinger, Radio NZ.
A subtle reinvention of the most daring and entertaining aspects of music styles long thought atrophied, and with just voice and guitar (and odd smatters of percussion), he wills it alive. - Gary Steel, Metro (NZ).
Soul-probing... Raw, avant-garde improvisations...Singer/guitarist Tom Rodwell’s extraordinary revision of blues and gospel always gets the joint jumping. - Metro (NZ).
William John Hooker
Possessing one of the country's most esteemed and idiosyncratic folk voices, William John Hooker's masterful song-writing is matched only by their artistry.
They make music not to earn a living, but to survive, and it’s through their songwriting that William John Hooker feels tethered to something tangible, a constant. It’s the action of translating their experiences into grubby blues compositions that helps in understanding parts of the beauty and ugliness of the world, and which might help listeners do so themselves.
