Gazebo Girls

Two voices, a guitar, a mandolin and a heap of songs from all over - alt country, folk and the odd 60s cover. Ain’t never found a harmony we couldn’t use.

The Gazebo Girls - two women old enough to know better, but young enough to do it anyway. They play alt country - short for alternative country (also known as Americana): either way a term for the place where folk, blues, rock, bluegrass and country meet. Some songs are as old as the hills they came from, some were written just yesterday. From down and dirty, rowdy and ragged songs about whisky and trucks and love that’s true and love gone bad, to fragile and haunting songs that touch the heart and hang in the air, the Gazebo Girls’ performances appeal to baby boomers and to the generation who have rediscovered this kind of music through Old Crow Medicine Show, Gillian Welch, Jolie Holland and the like.

Penni’s guitar lays down the foundation, Janet’s mandolin adds rhythmic chops and instrumental sparkle. On the top their voices blend and soar with the kind of close harmonies that send a shiverin’ shot of pleasure to the soul.

Penni Bousfield and Janet Muggeridge began performing as the Gazebo Girls in 2011. Appearances so far include Singer Songwriters Night in the Famous Spiegeltent during the Taranaki International Arts Festival, the Taranaki International Village Stage for the Rugby World Cup and the 2011 New Plymouth Festival of Lights. They have headlined at Meow in Wellington and the Wellington Bluegrass Club and supported Paul Symons and American singer Kristina Olsen on their recent tours. The Gazebo Girls are booked as one of the main acts at this year’s Wellington Folk Festival, alongside acts from the UK, America and Australia.

The Gazebo Girls’ repertoire runs from traditional working songs and folk ballads to songs by the likes of Gram Parsons and the Flying Burrito Brothers, Lucinda Williams, John Hiatt, Townes Van Zandt and Gillian Welch. They include a handful of Kiwi songwriters along with a growing number of originals.