Columnists' holidays are here! This is the last one before Christmas, and indeed for the year; I'll be back on January 10. So I realise attention spans are... Read More

It's that time of year. Our Spotify Wrapped individualised charts have been sent out and Facebook is abuzz, noting the several hundred or thousand listeners... Read More

As I believe has been occasionally noted, New Zealand is not a large country. So it seems all the more unlikely we should produce two internationally-regarded... Read More

We're pretty much into December. It focuses the mind, doesn't it? As I mentioned last week, gigs drop off the closer to Christmas we get. It's just too busy.... Read More

We must be getting close to the end of the year - gigs are starting to wind down. Not the gigs themselves of course, but as December arrives they get sparser.... Read More

I sometimes get messages from parents, enthusiastic about their children's music. Contrary to what you might immediately assume, these almost always prove... Read More

Last weekend I went to the Trinity Wharf Hotel launch of a big, bold and beautiful new book. ‘Paperboy Writer', by Tommy Kapai Wilson, is a lavishly-illustrated... Read More

Around 1980, I quit Southampton University and upped sticks for New Zealand, an uninformed decision fuelled by bad drugs and hubris. I spent my last night... Read More

Labour weekend already? The year is rushing to a close. Only a week until an American election. The world is on a knife edge. We finally learn whether being... Read More

One thing to know about jamming and open mic nights: in Tauranga and the Mount they mostly happen on Wednesdays. Mostly. So, I donned my Secret Squirrel hat... Read More

October on the music scene? Let me describe it in three words: busy, busy, busy. Three? That's how many gigs I wanted to mention happening next Saturday alone.... Read More

This week was for October gigs - there are a lot. But Kris Kristofferson died, so let's take a minute. I've been listening to Kris since I was a teenager,... Read More