They sing – despite their name – they play, they recount stories based on actual people and real events that occurred in our colonial history.
'Unsung Heroes', Cameron Bennett, Sonia Wilson, Chris Priestley and Nigel Gavin, will bring their eclectic brand of folk heritage to Taupō’s Saint Andrew’s Anglican Church on Friday, November 27.
The audience at the 7pm concert can expect to hear stories from Aotearoa New Zealand’s distant past in song, with newspaper clippings and poems as an introduction and a slideshow of historic images to accompany each tale.
The group brings alive the incredible stories of our rogues, rebels and folk heroes in an entertaining history lesson through what music critic Marty Duda has called Priestley’s beautiful melodies and “a wonderful, simple, direct singing style.”
They are stories about us, this place and people we hadn’t heard of, wrote another reviewer, Mike Mizrahi.
“All of them helping to create the wonderful tapestry, unique in the world, of Aotearoa and the brave folk that came and settled here. It was driven by immediate, moving and wonderfully fashioned songs that told these great tales, accompanied by incredible slide imagery that transported audiences to these times.”
The four band members are all accomplished musicians, whether individually or appearing in a multitude of different groups or collaborative ventures.
Together as Unsung Heroes, often with Peter Elliot, they have performed as part of the Auckland Heritage Festival, and in Christchurch, Wellington and Dunedin but also taken their quirky brand of folk history through folk music to the likes of Gore, Katikati, Inglewood, Okarito, St Bathans and other small locales – and now Taupō.
Entry to the concert is $25.
