Tuesday Apr. 9th, 2024: Black Eyed Susie + Supports

Through the hollers and wailing pines of the Appalachian Mountains, it is not uncommon to hear the haunting sounds of the banjo and fiddle or stomping and shouting from an old-time string band.

Here in New Zealand there is one such band that brings this music to the fore like no other. COTTON DAISY BACKSTEP have opened a portal deep into those lost roots of Americana. Playing the old ‘hillbilly’ music of the Appalachian Mountains, their high energy homestead music evokes that old 78 bacon-frying sound no book-learning can give. They sing the songs of the pioneers, shotgun totin’ moonshiners and tub-thumping dance tunes.

Wilson hails from Northern Ireland and picked up his love for Irish folk songs and ballads performing around the camp fire while scouting. This led to an appearance at the scouts national Folk Fest 4 concert at the Fairfield Concert Hall in Croydon, London.

After a few appearances with friends on the Southern Irish television, RTE,

Wilson moved to NZ in 1978 and has been a member of Mainly Acoustic for the last 20 years or thereabouts.

NB: Wilson very kindly stepped up when Phil Hope, who was scheduled to play had to pull out through illness.

John has been involved in music in one form or another since his early school years from playing violin, playing bagpipes in Pipe Bands and performing at the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, to studying jazz performance saxophone and more recently taking up guitar and writing his own original songs. He has played in Celtic bands The Moas and Las Gaitas de Celtique. John is also a member of local band Planet that has performed here several times.