Bio

Auckland Tamaki Makaurau quintet The Loving Arms serve up a distinctly Antipodean take on alt-country-soul, and their audiences revel in it: they've played to adoring houses at Big Fan, Anthology Lounge, Freida Margolis and the Pumphouse, just to name a few. They've been one of Tamaki Makaurau's best-kept secrets, but with the buzz building around Dreaming Over You, The Loving Arms are fast becoming a hot ticket.

Songwriter Mark Beesley was part of Ghost Town, a collaboration with Jed Town (Fetus Productions, Features) and together they released the lauded album Sky is Falling in 2017. For The Loving Arms, Beesley is joined by Dominic Blaazer, Steven Shaw, Bryan Shaw and Catherine Townsend.

When it came to recording Dreaming Over You, The Loving Arms weren't short of material, but producer producer Kerry Furlong of Red Trolley Studios was only interested in songs that bear repeat listens. He culled (and culled), and crafted the tracks that made the cut into a defiantly contemporary yet classic space, where lap steel harmonises with synth.

Working with Neil Finn as a live engineer taught Furlong something about the virtues of juggling perfection and spontaneity. Sometimes the wrong take is right, and vice versa.

Between them The Loving Arms have been in many fine bands including Smoothy, Ghost Town, Sugar Hits, The Hitlist, The Pet Rocks, Dean Savage, Love Sector, Black Doris and Bitumen Waltz.

The album also features some special guests: Jeffry Lancaster (guitars), John Segovia (slide guitar), James McCarthy (percussion), Dave Khan (strings, fiddle), and Jed Town (EBow).

As fans of artist Reuben Paterson, the band approached him for the album cover. Paterson generously offered the use of his beautiful piece Take My Hand and Off We Stride, a glitter on canvas gem from 2004. (Unfortunately the LP production process can’t re-create a glitter finish.)

Dreaming Over You was produced by Kerry Furlong and recorded at Red Trolley studio in Auckland, and is released via Ghost Records.

Drummer Bryan Shaw is also a renowned film editor, and has made some gorgeous videos for The Loving Arms.

Band Members:
Mark Beesley (vocals, piano)
Catherine Townsend (vocals, percussion)
Dominic Blaazer (vocals, guitar, piano, organ)
Steven Shaw (bass)
Bryan Shaw (drums)

Links

• Facebook Page
• Bandcamp Page
• Spotify Page