Blues Artist Performs In The South

Tauranga-born blues artist Grant Haua will be performing in the south over the next few days, on the back of an extensive European summer festival.

His five-week tour of New Zealand includes gigs in Gore on Wednesday, Stewart Island on Thursday and He Waka Tuia in Invercargill on Friday night.

Haua has been touring overseas with his French label Dixiefrog, and many will remember him from Swamp Thing with percussionist Michael Barker, who he performed with for eight years until 2019.

In his recent tour he will present in concert his deep timbre soul blues vocals/acoustic guitars and foot percussion.

The performance relates heavily to his Maori culture, which are at the heart of his songs.

Haua has seven studio albums to his name, including his first solo ‘Knucklehead’ – released in 2010,

The pair progressed onto the stages at Womad (NZ), Womadelaide (Aus), Woodford Folk Festival (Aus), Bridgetown Blues (Aus) and Electric Avenue (NZ).

In Jan 2019 after four albums and many tours through Australia and New Zealand he made the difficult decision to depart Swamp Thing.

His second solo album ‘Awa Blues’ was a Top 25 album of the year in Rolling Stone magazine France in 2021, which opened up his touring throughout Europe.

Haua wants his audiences to feel like they are guests in his home, and like the songs, describes his home environment as simple but warm.

The Stewart Island gig will be at The Snuggery Cafe, with $25 door sales, and pre-sales for Friday night’s concert in Invercargill can be bought from Little Fire MusicWorks.