Ben Ottewell of Gomez Returning To New Zealand In November

Co-frontman of Mercury Prize winning indie rockers Gomez, UK songwriter Ben Ottewell is returning to Aotearoa this November for a special headline performance at Auckland's Great South Pacific Tuning Fork. Back after last June's's two-date North Island tour, the gravelly-voiced artist is bringing songs from his acclaimed latest solo album A Man Apart along for the ride, a heartfelt collection which threw off the "security blanket" of his famous group to roam the range between Americana, folk and blues-inflected cuts. Here are the details...

Ben Ottewell
The Tuning Fork - Wednesday 14th November
Tickets available from 9.00am, Thursday 30th August

Watch the video for Ben Ottewell's single 'Watcher' from 2017's A Man Apart...

Press release:

The Great South Tuning Fork are delighted to announce Ben Ottewell's return to New Zealand for one show only at Auckland's most prized Americana and blues devoted venue.

Having released his third solo album A Man Apart in 2017 Ben Ottewell continues to delight his kiwi fans with a visit to New Zealand this November!

After performing at The Tuning Fork nearly 4 years ago, Ottewell returned last July with good friend Buddy, lead singer of LA based indie band of the same name. He enthralled the crowd with his signature gravelly vocal tones embedded in a tradition of Americana and folk nuances.

This year marks the 20th Anniversary of his band's Mercury Prize winning album Bring It On, which shot Gomez into the spotlight back in 1998. Since the band's last record in 2011, Ben has released three solo albums and toured extensively through the US, UK and Australia. At the age of 42, he continues to play live solo shows around the globe gaining solid fan bases everywhere including here in NZ!

A Man Apart delves into such relevant subjects as love and relationships, fame and politics. The album’s title track focuses on populist politicians exploiting people’s hopes and fears, with Bones touching on the realisation of not being worthy of someone, and opener Own It, sees Ben reflect on his time growing up in public in Gomez. New single Watcher is the perfect introduction to the album and despite its pensive meaning, is a melodic Americana led track that builds into a memorable bluesy and soulful chorus.

Demonstrating Ben's potent and ongoing love-affair with Americana - and flecked with trace elements of what you might loosely call Derbyshire folk - A Man Apart is the first solo album he has made without some kind of Gomez project lurking in the background. The album is a record that crosses musical genres such as Americana, blues and folk backed by Ben's unmistakable gutsy and gravelly voice. Co-written with childhood friend and former Tunng member, Sam Genders, the album was recorded in Los Angeles and Sheffield and engineered and produced in the latter by Martin Smith (Richard Hawley).

Throwing off the “security blanket” that is/was Gomez - and untroubled by the question of whether the songs he was writing should be earmarked for himself or his former band - Ben knuckled down. The two guitarleles (think ukulele with six strings) he bought for his nine-year-old twin boys proved a good investment - though not for Joe and Ry. “They just hung them on the wall,”, laughs the singer, “but I picked one up and wrote [title song] A Man Apart on it.”