Musicians Club Concert – 8 June 2025

It is with much pleasure and anticipation that The Folk Club hosts our cousins from The Christchurch Musician’s Club, to put on a musical variety performance showcasing a selection of local talent.

Four separate acoustic-based acts will deliver a veritable banquet of tunes across the musical spectrum, from smooth jazz through to pop, blues, country, classics, originals and quirky numbers you wouldn’t expect:

“Ralph Woodham”
Ralph (Piano/Vocals) is currently the President of the Christchurch Musicians Club and has performed for many years. Although his main interest is in the jazz idiom, he will be playing and singing mostly in a contemporary style. Expect a slow Joe Cocker number, a Little River Band number and a hint of jazz.

“Epicenta Duo”
Guitarist Roger Hanson and vocalist Celine Graham are a duo who will perform bluesy soulful songs from Amy Winehouse and other popular artists. They are a part of the local band Epicenta, who are a popular covers band in Canterbury and North Canterbury. Roger has been playing guitar for many years, performing across different genres, in concerts, clubs, hotels and studios. Celine has a dedicated local following and brings her superb international performance- and recording vocal prowess (having had a top 10 original single in Holland) to delight audiences.

“The Antennas Duo”
The Antennas are a recently formed duo of Anthony Smit and Arnie Lafeur. They have been refining themselves into a capable and sort-after acoustic act. The two guitarists have been gaining popularity with an attractive selection of songs, solid vocals and a blend of rhythm and lead guitar that combines to produce a big sound.

“The Meaniez Duo”
Guitarist Brian Clarke and bassist Brent Cain are 2/3rds of Otautahi Pub Rockers, The Meaniez Band. When not playing with the full band, they are often moonlighting on the busking scene in a stripped-down acoustic format, playing stuff unusual and well off the beaten track. Sometimes they could almost be mistaken for a comedy act masquerading as musicians, but they’re talented, fun and always entertaining.
The Meaniez Fan Club

Martin Curtis & Graham Wardrop – 15 June 2025

Martin and Graham met in 1989 and formed a close friendship, a partnership that continues to this day. With Graham’s help in 1990, Martin recorded his 3rd album “The Daisy Patch”, which was a finalist in the New Zealand Music Awards. Since then, Graham has been an integral part of all of Martin’s albums – 10 in total, both as a musician and latterly as the sound and recording engineer. They often perform together as a duo and thoroughly enjoy each other’s company.

Martin Curtis
Originally from England, Martin got his first guitar at the age of 8. Soon afterwards he heard a new form of pop music called “skiffle” and took to it immediately. After leaving school and taking up climbing and walking, he found his interest in folk music was shared by most of his companions. From the day of his first visit to a North London Folk Club he was hooked. Martin emigrated to Australia in 1969. Within a year he founded his own folk club and folk festival in Tennant Creek, Northern Territory. His passion for mountains brought him to New Zealand with his family in 1975.

He established in the then-isolated Cardrona Valley, running a horse trekking business and a small transport company. It was here in 1976 that he began songwriting and composed several ballads about the historic gold mining area in which he lived. One of these songs, ‘Gin & Raspberry’ – named after a famous claim across the road from his house – soon became a folk club standard, and was the title track of his first album, released in 1982 and now considered a New Zealand classic!

He organised the first Cardrona Folk Festival, which proved so successful that it ran for 46 years until in 2022 he and his wife left Cardrona to settle in less-touristy Alexandra.

Martin Curtis loves giving live solo performances and has toured widely throughout New Zealand, singing his songs
from Stewart Island to Cape Reinga. He has made several TV and Radio appearances in New Zealand and overseas and has guested at most of the music festivals around the country

Martin has toured extensively overseas, Australia in 1986, the U.K. in 1987 and then a bigger tour of Britain in 1991. In all completed 14 tours of the UK, performing from Lands End to the Shetland islands. On his travels he has also given
concerts in Perth, Darwin, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Norway, Austria and even Nepal. He has been featured on BBC radio in Glasgow, Cardiff, Swansea, Shetland, and on Radio TV in Hong Kong.

Commissioned by the Otago Primary Principals Association in 1998 to write a song for the schools’ 150th-anniversary
production at the Dunedin Town Hall (“Otago My Home”), Martin took the plunge and sold his mail contracting business in order to concentrate much more on his music. He put together a special heritage programme for schools
called ‘Let’s Sing a Kiwi Song’, which involved the children in songs about their own country. This took him from
Northland to Bluff also included the release of an album and songbook.

“Martin’s songs embody a feeling of closeness and distance, of Europeans uprooted to seek a new life on the opposite side of the world. He sings of times past and present, from the days of the Gin & Raspberry mine to the battles of the Nineties. He has added hilarious bush poems and old New Zealand songs…to create a fascinating, captivating repertoire’ – South Wales Echo, Cardiff
Website
Wikipedia
ODT

Graham Wardrop
Graham has been playing guitar and singing professionally for over fifty years. He mainly plays as a soloist but he has
also accompanied many artists and played in countless bands. Recently he has performed with a number of orchestras around the country. His talent and passion for music are clearly evident through his extensive experience as a professional fingerstyle guitarist. His versatility in various music genres has allowed him to work with a diverse range of artists and to perform in concerts and festivals around New Zealand and overseas. His dedication to his craft is further exemplified by his work in instrument crafting, demonstrating his commitment to producing the best possible sound and performance.
Graham is a unique and notable musician, songwriter and composer in New Zealand and beyond.

Rosa Shiel’s article

Website
Discography
ODT article

Thomas Loefke – 29 June 2025

Harp Music from the Celtic Northwest – concert with slideshow: Northern Isles Soundscapes

Islands in the North Atlantic, like Tory Island – the Irish island of legend and myth, the Hebridean Islands in the Northwest of Scotland or the wild archipelago of the Faroe Islands situated between the Shetlands and Iceland – these are the places where harpist and photographer Thomas Loefke spends a considerable amount of time every year to compose music. Dramatic coastal landscapes, the wide open space of the Atlantic ocean and the ever changing sky reflect in the pieces of music created there.

The tunes are accompanied by photographs Thomas took during his travels to the islands and by a bunch of amazing stories, a combination which makes this solo program a very entertaining show indeed.

He will bring along a new album Norðan 2, with a book of photography: North Atlantic Viewscapes.

Website: www.thomasloefke.eu/thomas.html

Thomas learnt his trade in Dublin from Ireland’s leading harp players – Máire Ní Cháthasaigh, Helen Davies and Áine Ní Dhúill. Since 1984 he has been playing professionally and has won several international prizes, including first prize at the O’Carolan Harp Festival. He regularly tours with Riverdance-violinist Máire Breatnach, with Colorado based cello/guitar duo Acoustic Eidolon, with Faroese fiddle player Angelika Hansen as duo Norðan and as soloist.

Youtube inks:

Alvastakkur

Djupini

Loch Ossian / Stephen’s Day Session

www.youtube.com/@thomasloefke

Hobnail – with Support Act, Luca Joass – 6 July 2025

Hobnail has played everywhere from Canada to Norfolk Island, Germany to Australia, Auckland to Gore, but never Vogelmorn!

A terrible oversight that will be rectified on Saturday 5^th October. They are 3-time finalists at the New Zealand Music Awards; twice for Best Country Song and once for Best Folk Album.

‘Refreshingly down-to-earth and lovely with vocals so tightly knit they could be family.’ Mike Alexander, NZ Herald.

They will be playing favourites from across their career, some well chosen covers, and songs from Rob Joass’ long awaited solo album “Faultlines”, recently released to great acclaim – “Masterful” “A songwriting masterclass”.

With “Jo Moir’s barnstorming fiddle”, great songs and spectacular harmonies, Hobnail’s live show will make your feet move and your heart sing.

Support Act: Luca Joass

You won’t find folk-pop artist Luca Joass much happier than with a guitar in his hands and a song in his heart. Whether he’s busking in the streets, playing for a crowd, or at home on the couch, he’ll play until his fingers are sore and his voice croaky (and then a little longer). Luca wears his heart on his sleeve with his songwriting, weaving emotive lyricism in the likes of Dean Lewis and Hozier, with the uplifting hook-anthems of The Lumineers and Jack Johnson.

Luca Joass has found home on stage since before he was born, with his fiddle-playing mother taking stage in Wellington Irish bars into the latest days of her pregnancy. Luca grew up travelling around the NZ folk scene with his parents, but as soon as he was big enough to hold a guitar, he was away strumming. By his teenage years, he was performing on stage with his parents and shortly after took to performing on his own.

Now a young man (or perhaps old boy), Luca lives and performs in Christchurch while growing his craft. As a recent alumni of SOLE Music Academy’s Artist Development Programme, Luca has seen mentorship from the likes of Platinum-record artist Sacha Vee, Shapeshifter’s Sam Trevethick and Silver Scroll nominee Amelia Murray (Fazerdaze). Taking inspiration from his folk background, and bringing it a modern twist, Luca’s songs are rife with catchy melodies and a whole lot of heart.

Facebook: http://facebook.com/ljoassmusic

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lucajoass/

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lucajoass

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBHRetGjuwE57zc9k3em8ZQ

Nick Jackman One-Man Band with Support Act Adrian Hughes – 20 July 2025

Nick Jackman is a multi-instrumentalist and one-man-band based in Christchurch, with
influences ranging from traditional Celtic folk to country, blues, punk rock and psychedelia.

With a career spanning five decades, he has played many hundreds of shows at bars, festivals, cafes, clubs, weddings, parties and street corners.

For the last twenty years, Jackman has mostly performed as a one-man-band, singing and playing harmonica, guitar and percussion all at the same time – the old-school way, without using a looper pedal, backing tracks or other fancy tricks. Watching him perform is a lesson in extreme multi-
tasking.

Harmonica is Nick Jackman’s weapon of choice, and with it he busts out anything from Celtic jigs and reels to bluegrass breakdowns and soulful blues while laying down a solid rhythm of strings and percussion with his hands and feet.

His one-man band was inspired by Memphis bluesmen Joe Hill Louis and Dr. Ross, folk artist Jesse Fuller, and the primitive country-punk style of Hasil Adkins. “I love the one-man-band artform”, says Jackman. “Everybody who performs this way is unique. There’s a certain simplicity to this way of making music that I appreciate. At the same time, it’s not easy trying to make it look easy, but when you pull it off, it’s an amazing feeling. There’s a lot of power in being a one-man band.”

Jackman is also a songwriter and recording artist. His early releases were in the 1990s on UK indie labels Theme Park and Bacchanalian Revel. Under his moniker Stomping Nick, he released Punk Blues One Man Band (2010), a collection of live in the studio recordings, and the follow-up album Shake For Your Cake (2016). These albums explore his love of blues music combined with a primitive punk aesthetic. In The Time of Burning (2020) by the Blues Grenade continued this theme but with contributions from other musicians, allowing Jackman to explore more varied sonic and rhythmic pathways than he could otherwise with his one-man-band.

In recent years, he has returned to his love of Celtic music in a big way, and has added mandolin and bouzouki to his one-man-band. These instruments have helped him add melodic depth to his live arrangements.

Jackman is currently recording traditional and original acoustic folk music. He also teaches folk, blues and country harmonica to students around the world, and he releases video tutorials on his Youtube channel, Harmonica For The Soul.

Support Act – Adrian Hughes

Adrian Hughes is a fingerstyle guitarist originally from South Wales, now based in Christchurch. He has been playing guitar since the age of eight, his earliest musical influences came from his guitar teacher, who introduced him to a wide range of styles, from early blues through to jazz, alongside Celtic music and traditional guitar genres from around the world. That foundation sparked a lifelong love of the instrument and a deep curiosity for diverse musical traditions.

Over the years, Adrian has performed across the UK and in Christchurch, sharing music that blends intricate fingerstyle technique with expressive, soulful playing. In 2024, Adrian completed his LLCM diploma in acoustic guitar, which reignited a passion for live performance. Adrian is also a dedicated guitar tutor and the New Zealand representative for the London College of Music, where he supports and guides the next generation of musicians.

Liz Braggins – 27 July 2025

After the successful concerts at the folk club in the recent past with Suzanne Lynch, Graham Wardrop and John Wright this concert will be a welcome return of Liz on her own singing and playing the songs that she loves to play solo.

Elizabeth’s enthusiasm and aptitude for music led to her first music lessons when she was very little but after a few lessons her music teacher suggested she learn the alphabet first. She started learning music again a little later and continued to do so until her mid twenties, teaching herself chords and modern music. As a teenager she learned classical guitar, clarinet and the french horn but the piano and singing have always been her forte.

After completing her degree in music at University of Canterbury, Elizabeth earned a post-graduate degree at Teachers’ College and taught music in a number of high schools including an HOD position at the Christchurch Rudolf Steiner School. She was also a tutor and Programme Leader at the Jazz School (Ara Institute of Canterbury).

‘Liz Braggins’ has been a familiar name on the Christchurch music scene. Her highly original versions of well-known songs are an eclectic mix of genres highlighting her background in most musical styles.

Elizabeth is also known internationally for her piano playing, singing and composition. Her self-titled album which was produced by Nigel Stone and Malcolm McNeill was a showcase of Christchurch and Wellington musicians which went on to become a finalist in the New Zealand Music Awards. Other albums include an album with Graham Wardrop, two albums with Janice Gray an album with her vocal trio group ‘Volare’ and an album with her trio “Braggins, Wardrop and Dunne”. She is currently completing a second solo album that was recorded on the Steinway piano at St Margaret’s College in the Charles Luney Auditorium.

Her recordings feature frequently on National Radio and she has appeared at many live events including the Christchurch International Jazz Festival, the Christchurch Arts Festival, the Waipara Wine and Food Celebration, the Wanganui Arts Festival and Toast Martinborough. Elizabeth has worked alongside some of New Zealand’s greatest musicians such as Nathan Haines, Caitlyn Smith, Teddy Tahu Rhodes, The Nairobi Trio, Ali Harper, The Warratahs, Beaver, Suzanne Lynch, Murray Wood, Tom Rainey, Malcolm McNeill, Stu Buchanan, Hayley Westernra, Don McGlashan, Midge Marsden and the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra.

Elizabeth (or ‘Liz’ or ‘Lizzie’ or ‘MzLz’ ) now mainly performs nationally and works from home recording, writing and arranging songs. She also teaches piano, vocals, performance and music theory from her studio three afternoons a week.

Elizabeth Braggins solo album on iTunes:

https://music.apple.com/nz/album/elizabeth-braggins/1563114826

Elizabeth Braggins solo album on Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/album/14vZEXr3FNfiXBcE1pIIcU?si=IJFX13RrQtOyhmEzSbk82w

“Angel” (with Volare) on ITunes:

https://music.apple.com/nz/album/angel/438713984?i=438714000

“Black Coffee” (with Braggins & Wardrop & Dunne)on Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/6GQGkhJMg61cWty4mjdpMV?si=OnoU_egXR3esYblVd46W-Q

Radio Interview at Plains FM September 2024

https://plainsfm.org.nz/Programmes/Details.aspx?PID=a08f5763-2f7a-40af-bbb2-5116576c82fe