Alex & BB at Tir Na N'og Folk Music Club

“They work together so well it’s almost like hearing one 9-string banjo played by a four-handed banjo demon” - NZ Musician Magazine.

Alex & BB; two gifted artists, two banjos.

Using the simple combo of a 5-string banjo and Irish tenor banjo, Catherine “BB” Bowness and Alex Borwick will reveal to you the iconic relevance of one of the most infamous instruments ever built.

With a 21st century approach and just nine strings this fresh young duo sample a combination of traditional genres against their own, beautifully architectured compositions, to reveal an intellectually stimulating array of performance pieces.

Alex and BB perform with the depth of connection you would expect from two experienced instrumentalists coming together to offer a new take on an old friend; playing with the grace of the classics and with fire from the mountain to produce a musical connoisseur’s treat.

Alex is a multi-instrumentalist, who can go from playing reggae one night, to leading a traditional Irish session the next. He has studied and performed jazz with some of New Zealand's foremost jazz luminaries, and is the past recipient of several national jazz awards for his trombone playing. Since first picking up the tenor banjo in 2007, Alex has immersed himself in Celtic music, and is a member of the critically-acclaimed quirky folk trio Forbidden Joe.

BB has been playing the banjo for the past six years studying at first with her local banjo tutor and later with some well-respected players in the USA. In 2007 she was invited to the US to join the bluegrass band Long Road Home and tour their summer festivals, she is also the winner of the 2006 Uncle Dave Macon banjo contest. Lately BB’s musical taste has been expanding; she has now finished her third year at the NZ School of Music, being the first accepted banjo player to study jazz.

In November 2010 Alex & BB released their debut EP, entitled ‘Play Banjo’. It's a small taste of the music they've created together so far, and confirms this duo's reputation as musicians exploring the potential of the banjo outside of it’s traditional role. Over the last two years they have been guests at several major NZ folk festivals, have toured their banjos around the North Island, and partook in a successful NZ national tour in November 2011, to spell-bound audiences all over the country.