Folk musician farewell tour heading south
New Zealand’s singing storyteller Phil Garland of Waikato will perform in the south next week on what could be his last national tour.
Awarded a Queen’s Service Medal in 2014 for his services to folk music, the man from Mooloo land has spent a lifetime researching, collecting, writing and performing Kiwi songs.
He has been described as a national living treasure and New Zealand’s foremost and finest heritage balladeer.
He’s recorded 18 albums, and won the New Zealand Music Awards folk album of the year three times, and has received other awards and international recognition from Australia, Japan, the United States - even the United Nations, along with Germany and Switzerland. His award winning album Southern Odyssey features Southland, and his traditional album Hunger In The Air has some old Otago songs.
A former rocker - he entered the Christchurch-based Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame in 2007, Garland has performed extensively around the world promoting Kiwi musical heritage with a blended presentation of songs, ballads, stories and yarns that introduce audiences to the musical heart of New Zealand and its people.
However, health issues may curtail any touring in the future.
‘‘I’m not hanging up my guitar yet but I am about to stop touring because of some health issues, which will mean that I won’t be able to travel too far from home after the end of this year.’’
He’ll keep running his beloved Te Aroha Folk Club and organising the annual Folk Under the Mountain Festival, to be held in May 2017, while continuing to write and research songs.
Garland will perform at the Catlins Cafe in Owaka on September 8, the Eastern Southland Gallery in Gore on September 9, the Southland Museum and Art Gallery on September 10, and the Dunedin Folk Club on September 11.