Musicians remember Phil

‘‘We know that he will be here with us in spirit.’’

A photo of the late Phil Garland will take pride of place at the Te Aroha Arts Centre as musicians come together for the Folk Under the Mountain Music Festival this weekend.

Known as the godfather of folk music in New Zealand and a national treasure, Phil, who was born and raised in Christchurch and moved to Te Aroha in recent years, set up the Te Aroha Folk and Acoustic Music Club, which he called ‘‘the best little folk group in New Zealand’’.

He was also instrumental in establishing the Folk Under the Mountain Music Festival and this year the event will be a celebration of Phil’s life and love of music.

‘‘We know that he will be here with us in spirit,’’ John Mullon said.

Phil’s brother Mike Garland, from Dunedin, will be attending the festival and there’s been a lot of interest in the event from folk musicians around New Zealand who knew Phil.

The festival begins on Friday night with a Big Folk Jam.

A full programme on Saturday starts with the Blackboard Sessions with artists from across the region and beyond giving mini concerts.

The afternoon will see a performance by the a capella traditional English folk vocal group Supersheep.

The Bush Dance in the evening features the Black Pudding Band from Hamilton and was introduced into the festival three years ago.

A special event within the festival is Song for Phil, where audience and musicians/singers will join and perform songs from the Phil Garland songbook.

‘‘This legacy event is in honour of Phil and the impact he had,’’ John said.

‘‘Phil was awarded the Queen’s Service Medal in 2014 to coincide with the first festival in Te Aroha.

‘‘We urge anyone who loves live music, acoustic and folk, blues and bluegrass, traditional and contemporary to come along.’’

All information including the programme is available on Facebook/folk under the Mountain or by phoning 022 050 2416.