It seemed like a good idea, they gave it a go, and it sold out – so they’re doing it again. On Friday the 14th of December the Wine Cellar Strings return to their spiritual home in the depths of St Kevin’s arcade, joined this time by the cream of Auckland’s alt-folk crop, fresh off the Gunslinger’s Ball Tour – Steve Abel, Bernie Griffen and The Bads.
The Wine Cellar Strings, a rag-tag collection of string players from some of the most exciting acts currently operating in Auckland’s thriving alternative folk scene, made their sell-out debut in September of this year. The concept was simple: fiddle players, cellists and upright bass players from bands that play and drink regularly at The Wine Cellar – the beating heart of the Auckland underground – would get together and form a string section, inviting their favourite songwriters to feature in occasional special shows, performing stripped-back versions of their songs with swaggering string arrangements.
That first show in September, featuring Reb Fountain, Goodshirt’s Gareth Thomas and Bernie Griffen, drew a capacity crowd to the Wine Cellar and saw the Wine Cellar Strings invited to join Delaney Davidson, Marlon Williams and Tami Neilson – the three finalists of this year’s APRA silver scroll for best country song – for a special one-off show on Waiheke Island.
For this second performance at the Wine Cellar, the Wine Cellar Strings have invited along three acts with well-deserved reputations as leading lights of the Auckland alt-folk scene. Bernie Griffen, Steve Abel and The Bads have just toured the North Island with the wildly successful Gunslinger’s Ball, and they’re each in peak performing voice. The Bads and Bernie Griffen have just stepped off the stage after supporting Emmylou Harris at Vector Arena, and Steve Abel has caused audiences around the world to swoon with his mournfully beautiful songs.
Catch these three acts at the top of their game supported by Auckland’s hottest band of string-sawing rascals at bar that keeps the scene alive: The Wine Cellar, St Kevin’s Arcade, 14th December, doors at 8:30
The Wine Cellar Strings are:
Dave Khan, Sam Prebble, Brendan Turner, Emily Giles, Will Wood and Louise Evans. Between them they've played in The Broadsides, The Grifters, Bond Street Bridge, An Emerald City, Rodney Fisher's Backyard Orchestra, Don McGlashan's Band, The Broken Heartbreakers, Reb Fountain's Bandits, Bat Country, Nina McSweeney's Band and more other bands than they can recall.
