Kiwi roots/rock band Bonjah may have made Australia their home but these Tauranga boys are looking forward to spending some time in their hometown.
The Australia-based Kiwi-born band have spent the past five years making their mark on the Aussie music scene and will bring their sounds back to their home
country with three concerts in Wellington, Auckland and Tauranga.
The five-piece consists of South African-born Glenn Mossop (vocals/acoustic guitar), New Zealanders Regan Lethbridge (electric guitar/vocals), David Morgan (bass), Dan Chisholm (drums) and Australian James Majernik (percussion).
Bonjah have been rated highly by Rolling Stone magazine, nominated with The Naked and Famous for the 2011 Artist to Watch award, performed at numerous festivals, are about to release an album, will launch their debut New Zealand single, The White Line, and celebrate New Zealand Music Month with the upcoming gigs.
They have also supported some of music's greats including The Who, Counting Crows, G Love & Special Sauce, The Original Wailers and Australia's own Paul Kelly and The Beautiful Girls.
Former Tauranga lad and band member Regan Lethbridge says though their time in Australia has been "amazing", they always look forward to being back in New Zealand.
"It's always good [being back] ... We miss home, all of our family is there," Lethbridge says.
He says the band got together while they were at high school and would often leave during the lunch break to jam at one of their family homes across the road from the school.
"We grew up in Tauranga ... Dave and I started playing at school together at Tauranga Boys' College at 14," he says.
"It just grew from there."
He describes their music as "fairly rootsy" and "a little bit of rock".
Lethbridge is encouraging people in Wellington, Auckland and especially Tauranga to check out their gigs and see how they perform.
"We just can't wait to get back to play these shows."
He says they always have good support in Tauranga and are hoping for a good turnout at all of the New Zealand shows.
They also plan to come back to New Zealand by the end of the year.
In the meantime, Lethbridge says the band is looking forward to releasing their album, Go Go Chaos, in July and to future tours in Texas and Europe next year.
