Small Hall Sessions: Mel Parsons to share new album with regional Hawke’s Bay

Kiwi folk songstress Mel Parsons will perform in a selection of small Hawke's Bay halls this month. Photo / Sabin Holloway

Kiwi folk favourite Mel Parsons is making time in her busy touring schedule for regional Hawke’s Bay, bringing her “ethereal and hypnotic” soundscapes to four rural halls for the latest Small Hall Sessions.

The Westport-born songstress recently embarked on a sold-out tour of Aotearoa’s main centres to mark the release of her latest album, Sabotage, and has chosen Hawke’s Bay’s small halls as part of her 20-show regional run.

Parsons will perform at the Ōtāne Hall on Wednesday October 9, followed by Sherenden on October 10, Ashley Clinton on October 11 and Maraekakaho on October 12.

Small Hall Sessions organiser Jamie Macphail said Parsons was very familiar with the back roads and rural regions of New Zealand, having over several years arranged tours presenting her own music combined with comedy shows in woolsheds the length and breadth of the country.

“Mel has an incredibly relaxed and warm stage presence and her unpretentious manner, combined with her incredible skill as a songwriter, guitarist and singer, really endears her to audiences,” Macphail said.

Sabotage, Parson’s sixth studio album, peaked at No 2 in the New Zealand album charts and has been critically acclaimed by audiences and critics alike.

Fans have already lapped up singles Offer Down, Little Sadness, Circling The City and new single 5432.

The album, recorded in Lyttelton at Basement Studio and co-written and produced with Josh Logan, sees a contemplative Parsons skilfully weave together a tapestry of ethereal and hypnotic soundscapes.

The songs are raw and at times dark – perhaps a reflection of the time in which they started to emerge as they were written across several Covid-19 lockdowns.

As an added bonus, she will also bring audiences a lush new music video to accompany 5432, filmed in her hometown of Lyttelton.

Parsons also recently returned from Canada, where she performed at the prestigious Vancouver Folk Festival.

More information and tickets are available at www.smallhallsessions.co.nz.