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Hawea music fans and picnickers were treated to a concert by London-based Kiwi guitarist Jesse Sheehan yesterday as part of his debut homeland tour.
The 25-year-old Wellington-born musician performed at the bespoke venue The Nook owned by Hawea singer-songwriter Anna van Riel. This was the result of his meeting van Riel on a plane and she offered to arrange a South Island tour to promote his debut album.
The album Drinking with the Birds was produced by Neil Finn in his Auckland recording studios in 2015 after Sheehan played with Finn’s backing band on his 2014 Dizzy Heights world tour.
Sheehan said he chose not to release the album until late last year as he wanted to build up an audience in London first.
"I moved to London as I felt I needed to be somewhere where I could explore my niche music. There is such a high population and so many venues in London you can play whatever type of music you want and you’ll find an audience for it. That’s something NZ doesn’t have," Sheehan said.
Sheehan described his acoustic guitar playing as "raw, stripped-back singer-songwriter" style when in concert but more "experimental in the studio".
Sheehan is touring with fellow New Zealand artists NyOh until the end of the month.
