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A couple of musicians told me the other day that the Tauranga music scene is in serious trouble.
They were talking about the difficulties for cover bands, how there are no places for them to play.
I don’t follow the cover band scene closely and hadn’t really clocked it. But it’s a worry.
Cover bands get short shrift in the paper. Because playing covers is not especially newsworthy. But it has huge value, value beyond the manifold pleasures of a crowded Saturday night dancefloor.
Obviously, it brings in money for the musicians but, more importantly and this is what is being lost, cover bands were once an apprenticeship of sorts for young players.
Delving through a couple of decades, Tauranga had a thriving pub scene with regular bands at the St Amand, the Otūmoetai Trust, Astrolabe, Mount Social Club, the Crown and Badger, the Cornerstone and more. Three band leaders spring to mind who really utilised younger players.
There was John Terry with his band Hit ‘n’ Run, who “discovered” keyboard wizard Grant Winterburn, guitarists Jonathan Brown and Delaney McVay, and drummer James Fleming, all pretty much still at school.
Honing the young
Graham Clark did the same using teenage guitarists Deane Hunter and Terry Varhalamas; and John Michaelz’ band The Stone Babies included Varhalamas, bass player Milti Stefadouris, and drummer Roger Smith, all barely 20.
Those not-so-young-anymore players are now performing in Wellington, Auckland, England and Australia, but all paid their dues on the Tauranga cover scene.
That doesn’t seem to exist now. Few pubs have bands. There are spots for duos and specialist jazz or blues sessions but for cover bands Jack Dusty’s Ale House in Bureta is about the last man standing.
Jack Dusty’s began its current iteration when Jess Luxton took over in 2017. The bar now boasts a Hard Rock Cafe array of instruments on the walls, paintings of local musicians and photos of more. They still have bands every Saturday night and smaller outfits on Sunday afternoons.
Andy Craw and Jess Luxton. Photo / Jo Jones
Luxton is a firm supporter of local music and believes it plays a real part in a neighbourhood bar. She’s been aided in this by partner Andy Craw, a veritable veteran of Tauranga music.
Entertainer
Craw arrived here sometime in 1989 from Scotland via Canada and America. He’s been part of our music scene ever since, a truly beautiful singer who plays 12-string guitar. He’s been solo, in duos with Chris Gunn and Robbie Laven, in western swing band Miles From Texas, everywhere.
Craw has written and released some good songs, including Say Kia-ora To New Zealand, which is now 35 years old! But he’s always been primarily an entertainer, as good a one as the Bay has. Except he doesn’t do it much anymore. Retirement from music beckons.
Shabang. Photo / Jo Jones
But not from booking and appreciating bands: Shabang, No Exit Band, Sound Cartel, Ground Zero, Tim Armstrong, Yeah Nah Yeah, Redzone and dozens of others can attest to that.
The last pub standing for cover bands is in good hands.
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