Tiaki
Maniototo
The Taiari Wai River Festival is back for its second year. Thanks to our generous sponsors, Otago Community Trust, Aotearoa Gaming Trust, Ranfurly Transport , the Māniatoto Promotions Fund and Otago Fish and Game Council
The Taiari Wai River Festival is a music festival with a purpose - to engage the Otago community in the extraordinary freshwater ecosystems of the Taieri/Taiari river.
The festival, which is entering its second year after a successful 2024 event, features top New Zealand music artists and is held in the village of Pātearoa, on the site of the old school.
It is a daytime event with a strong family focus. Events related to freshwater conservation provide opportunities to learn and get involved.
The aim of the festival is to provide a focal point for the Taiari river community to gather; to learn about and celebrate their river. The festival aims to be an annual event that links communities up and down the Taiari/Taieri river, from Dunedin to Alexandra and beyond. Our goal is for it to grow into a boutique festival that attracts music lovers from around the world.
At the heart of the festival is community, nature and landscape. And of course, water—the lifeblood of the Taiari/Taieri.
Jessie Shanks
Having traversed the countryside for the last fifteen or so years in New Zealand’s hardest working band The Eastern, Jessie Shanks is a renowned guitar picking, banjo frailing, foot stomper with a sweet southern voice and a raft of songs built from years on the road.
Shanks has cultivated her own unique approach to roots music, performing haunting contemporary folk tunes steeped in time and place and woven from her countless travels.
Tess Liautaud
The music of Franco-American singer-songwriter Tess Liautaud can not be easily defined. It hangs in the balance of her voice, warm like honey; it carries a depth of raw emotion, delivered with melodic grace and country soul.
Her songs are easy listening, in that Jackson Browne, dreaming of Laurel Canyon, Americana sort of way and together with her band Liautaud creates a sound steeped in classic folk'n'country rock'n'roll, this is music that will grow roots in your heart and lift you up, the way it is supposed to.
“It is warm and giving, open and true, devoid of pretension, gentle and full of heart, It sounds beautiful and everything is in its right place . A special balm for jolting times.'' - Adam McGrath
Mads Harrop is a singer-songwriter, composer, musician, producer, and sound engineer based in Ōtepoti, New Zealand. Her first song "Contagious World", written during lockdown
in 2020 went to number one on the New Zealand student radio Music Charts. Her Songs are joyous and poignant and have garnered a lot of critical acclaim. The Mads Harrop Band has supported both local and international acts such as The Chats, Reb Fountain, Ha the Unclear, and many others. Mads writes songs that are mostly about the challenges she faces, and ideas to do with Neurodiversity (she has Autism, Anxiety and Tourette Syndrome). In between Gigs, work and play Mads is a Masters Student at University of Otago, studying Music Production. An original song writer who strives for an authentic sound using analogue gear to highlight her love of vintage instruments, effects and of course, style.
Mads was suddenly struck down with severe Tourette’s at 19, and her heroic battle to keep her life on track is inspirational. Her songs are often a testimony to her love of music and her commitment to overcome life’s hurdles. She is currently working on more music that will be released in the not too distant future.
Mads Harrop
Skin and Bone
Skin & Bone are a swing, string and sing unit from the gin-and-tonic end of the Cowboy Lounge.
Skin & Bone are a five piece acoustic swing band from Ōtepoti, Dunedin. Formed relatively recently, they are nevertheless a product of some very longstanding musical friendships.
Difficult to pigeon- hole, a substantial portion of their repertoire is 1930’s style swing, and they are popular in their hometown as an energetic dance band who will always pack the dance floor. In addition, they have a sizeable number of original tunes that tend toward acoustic rock, and contemporary folk music from Aotearoa.
The band has recently released their first album ‘Last Bus to Brockville’ featuring a collection of these original tunes together with a sampling of that old style swing.