A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
A bloke driving an old red ute out the back of Manutuke gave folk/roots/soul troubadour Monty Bevins a line for his song Traveller, the title track from his EP. The driver gave Bevins the “classic farmers wave — one finger casually lifted over the steering wheel in front of a
deadpan face”.
“My songwriting and entire approach to touring is shaped from the love I have for going slightly off the beaten highway,” says Bevins who returns to Gisborne next week as part of his Traveller Tour. “If my songs can be the excuse for a community to come together and enjoy a musical experience, have their thoughts and feelings provoked and connections with each other initiated or solidified, I’m a very happy troubadour.”
Themes of tenderness, personal revolution and adventure thread through his songs. Hard Ship was written after a discussion with a Cambodian taxi driver about his harrowing Khmer Rouge experience, while Lovers Again came about after Bevins called in for a cuppa with empty nest parents who were preparing to move out of the family home in Arthur’s Pass to a smaller place. Touring goes beyond musical involvement alone, says Bevins. It is a way of life, “deeply personal at a speed that allows for encounter, listening in to the detail.”
Monty Bevins performs as part of his Traveller Tour in the Dome garden bar on Sunday, February 24, 6pm. $10 entry. Listen to the Traveller EP at www.montybevins.bandcamp.com
