Mara and the Bushkas Album Release

On Oct 20th 2011 Mara & the Bushkas will release their first album Live at Bats, a ten-track live recording, available on CD and for digital download.

UK/Kenyan songwriter Mara Simpson went to four other continents before arriving, on a whim, in Wellington. The last thing on her mind was to stay for long. However, a little over a year later, she has a band of Wellington all-stars playing her songs, a single and music videos, gigs, tours and a sell-out three date showcase at Bats Theatre under her belt.

This album was recorded at those packed-out shows at Wellington’S Bats Theatre. Traversing a wide range of musical styles and dispositions, Live at Bats revs up from simple tracks with Simpson on acoustic guitar and vocals with only a Hammond organ in tow, to an eleven-piece soundscape of singers, horns, strings and percussion. On this record Simpson presents her own unique sound, which she describes as “soul, folk, funk-rock”; it’s safe to say that no one else in Wellington is making music quite like this!

As well as writing the songs, Simpson directed and self-funded all of her gigs and the pre- and post-production of this album. She went full circle in her travels, taking the recordings all the way back to London to be mixed & mastered by Dan Goudie at Music Bank Studios, London. She’s a remarkable woman; and it’s a remarkable album too; check it out!

Mara & the Bushkas are:
Mara Simpson - vox/guitar;
Jean Pompey - drums/vox (Trinity Roots, Olmecha Supreme);
Rio Hemopo - bass (Trinity Roots, Fat Freddys Drop);
Ed Zuccollo - Rhodes, Hammond (Harbour City Electric, Eru Dangerspiel);
Nikita Tu-Bryant - vox (Nikita & The Spooky, The Pyramid Scheme);
Daniel Yeabsley - saxophone (Twinset, Wellington Ukulele Orchestra);

With guests:
Conor McCabe - vocals;
Matt Stewart - trumpet;
Stephanie Engelbrecht - percussion;
Charley Davenport - cello;
Tristan Carter - violin;
Bruce Reid - bass.

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