Rosy Tin Teacaddy - All Mountains Are Men

Special album release show.

For six weeks during 2010, Rosy Tin Teacaddy were exiled to New Zealand's most volatile landscape, the Rotorua Lakes District. In the shadow of Tarawera, a mountain which unleashed the most devastating volcanic eruption of recent times, Rosy Tin Teacaddy summoned the spirits and stories left buried under ash and mud.

By forging new interpretations of existing myths, the Wellington folk duo carved their own into a full-length album All Mountains Are Men. Written and recorded entirely in isolation at a cottage by the lake, this new collection of songs extends Rosy Tin Teacaddy's sonic palette by layering field-recordings, omnichord and cello on a bed of interlacing vocal harmonies and acoustic guitars. From an old-fashioned camera flash comes contemporary musical story-telling that is both cinematic and intimate.

Overlooking Lake Tarawera, Billy and Betty papered the walls of the cottage with maps and undertook their own expedition; visiting relics, historical heroes, and trekking to what was once the eighth wonder of the world – the Pink and White Terraces. In their journeys they discovered the characters, news reports and legends that would fuel the imaginings of travelling back in time.

Now, in 2011, as New Zealand is once again being shaped by the whim of a powerful earth, Rosy Tin Teacaddy play a special concert in remembrance of all those who lost their lives 125 years ago, on the night of 10 June 1886. A reminder that hope can take shape from a daydream in dust.

The single and accompanying video, Out of The Frying Pan and Into Fire, features the folk duo in a make-shift cardboard cottage on the night of June 10, 1886. Rosy Tin Teacaddy wrote this song exactly 124 years after the eruption when they stayed up late and urged their imaginations to get carried away.

Rosy Tin Teacaddy will be touring All Mountains Are Men with Bond St Bridge (AKL) who is also promoting his new album, Spring Summer Awesome Winter.

Fri June 17 Paekakariki, St Peters Hall.
Sat June 18 Wellington, The Garden Club.
Wed June 22 Nelson, Playhouse.
Thurs 23 Oamaru, Loan and Merc.
Fri June 24 Dunedin, Chicks Hotel.
Sat June 25 Lyttelton, Wunderbar.
Sun June 26 Blenheim, TBC.
Sat July 2 AUCKLAND, Wine Cellar

Rosy Tin Teacaddy:
Rosy Tin Teacaddy are Wellington folk duo, Holly Jane Ewens and Andy Hummel (The Woolshed Sessions, Rhian Sheehan) working under the ultra-egos Betty Grey and Billy Earl. With a partnership that dates back nearly twenty years, the duo are regarded for their on-stage symmetry and effortless blend of vocals. Formed in 2007, Rosy Tin Teacaddy have built a reputation for narrative song-writing and lyrical craft coupled with wit and poignancy. Their debut EP, Blind Leading The Blind opened to audiences with a theatre-style show while their following full-length album, The Homeward Stretch, was recorded with multi-award winner Lee Prebble and released in 2009. It was warmly received by critics, punching above its weight, “Alt country, very lovely, folky, small, enchanting, meandering. It's literally that fresh air - that smallness is just grand!” - Manu Taylor, RNZ National.

In 2010 the pair were awarded a Wild Creations artists-in-residency grant from Creative NZ and the Department of Conservation. This saw them in song-writing exile for six weeks on the shores of Lake Tarawera where they wrote, researched and recorded an interpretation of local history and personal isolation in a site-responsive manner. The Bats theatre show, 'Coffee Cups and a Porridge Pot at Frying Pan Lake' gave audiences a taste of this experience in May 2010. Their forthcoming album, All Mountains Are Men is due for release on the 125th Anniversary of the eruption of Mt Tarawera, June 10, 2011.