“The idea was just to live in Whanganui, put a lovely little three-piece blues band together, and release an album so we could get some people along to gigs.
“We wanted to make music and enjoy it, that was it. All the rest has been a bit of a surprise.”
He said High Tide went in at number one on Australia’s Roots Music Report chart, and the band was being played on College Radio in the US and syndicated radio in Germany.
Manager Ken Usmar said as well as New Zealand, High Tide was being released in Australia, the UK, the USA, Canada, France, Switzerland, Austria and Germany.
“There have been some incredible reviews coming in from Germany and France, from people who write reviews for a living,” he said.
“We’ve had to use the old Google Translate to understand what they’re about, but they’ve all been really positive.”
“I love to write, I love to work, and I have a great band. I’ve got a brief to write to.
“We will always be a blues band, and that’s quite a conscious thing.
“The blues is not a lump of cement. It’s a living, vibrant organism, and contemporary blues is something that’s growing in the world and gaining appreciation.”
An international tour was a possibility, but “we’ll see how the album goes”.
“We would love to get there, particularly to France and Germany, where they seem to be really embracing us.
“But, first things first.
“We’re doing what we love to do. Three Kiwi blokes, driving around this country playing music to folk.”
BB and the Bullets are playing across the North Island over the next three months, with their next Whanganui show at Lads Brewery and Bar on October 4.
Vinyl copies of High Tide are available at the Vinyl Room on Victoria Ave.
Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily Whanganui District Council.
