In The Shallows' Danni Parsons and Lance Shepherd.
In The Shallows' Danni Parsons and Lance Shepherd.
A Kāpiti duo, In The Shallows, and Hamilton duo Looking For Alaska have joined forces for a national tour.
Two accomplished groups in their own right, they will be taking to the road together from August to November to visit some of their favourite venues around the country and share their songs and stories, joined by a full band at their Auckland and Wellington shows.
In The Shallows, comprising Danni Parsons and Lance Shepherd, are an indie-pop band "offering up an exquisitely silken sound that weaves together soaring harmonies, mesmerising vocals with a velvety and gentle timbre, acoustic guitars with relatable and introspective lyrics about intricate tales of love, loss, connection, redemption and empowerment", a bio says.
Their debut album and many of their latest singles have received glowing five-star reviews and they were voted into the Top 10 Live shows of 2021 list by Kev Rowland of Muzic.net.nz.
Looking For Alaska, made up of Aaron Gott and Amy Maynard, draw "from a diverse range of country, soul, folk and Maōri influences, and perform hard-hitting original music, their songs inspired by their life and travels, complete with exquisite harmonies and acoustic guitar that both whispers and roars".
"The duo's familiarity, closeness and authenticity is fuelled by their real-life romance, creating a magnetic performance style that captivates their audience time and time again, and has seen them open for the likes of Fly My Pretties, Herbs and Tiny Ruins, and perform all around New Zealand and the world."
What can audiences expect from the duos?
Parsons said In The Shallows would play "all of the favourites from our five-star-rated debut album as well as our equally well-received single releases that have followed, and a selection of brand-new songs that have been in the works for our upcoming album".
Gott said Looking for Alaska would "be playing a selection of songs from our first two albums as well as some brand-new unreleased songs that we'll be road testing for the first time".
And what was their present favourite setlist song and why?
Parsons said, "Our favourite constantly changes.
"We've developed a really solid set of the songs that have resonated with our audiences most since the release of the album and the singles that followed (There You Are, Let's Not Start a War, Hold on/Kia Mau Tonu), but we're really loving the addition of our new songs coming through (Fade Away, Not the One, Warble, Here We Go Again), written and recorded just in the last month or two".
Faves at the moment are the new tracks Not the One and Fade Away.
"We're excited to see how our audience receives the development of our sound that has involved me experimenting with a few different instruments, as a result of a desire to expand our sound and make our shows a little more interesting, without having to take to the road with a full band.
"It was great to be able to test run a few of them at the TSB Festival of Lights in June, we had a blast performing them there."
In The Shallows / Looking For Alaska concert venues and dates.
Gott said, "It definitely changes day to day, can I pick two?
"One is our song Hine Atarau from our second album Light and Shadow.
"It's our only bilingual song, written in Te Rēo Māori and English, and is super-personal for Amy.
"We always get a special feeling performing that one, you can definitely feel the wairua in the room.
"The other one would be one of our new songs that we're currently calling Anxiety, another very personal song about some of our struggles with mental health.
"We haven't released it yet, but we've played it at a couple of shows and the feedback so far has been very positive."
To check out the tour venues/dates/prices go to Spring Tour
