Iconic Kiwi artist
Rob Ruha will reveal a
selection of waiata from
Survivance,
his new album with The
Witch Dr., in a live studio session streamed across partners
this Wednesday, November 22at 7.00pm (NZT).
The multi-cast live stream is an online community of host partners, where viewers
can watch at 7.00pm. Host partners include Radio New Zealand Music, The
Wireless, Maori Television, The Iwi Radio Network and of course Rob Ruha’s
Youtube and
Facebook live.
Audiences around the world will get a sneak peak of
Survivance, performed
live at The Labin Auckland and produced by Velvet
Stone Media, ahead of its official release on Friday, December 1.
Co-hosted by Kirsten Johnstone (RNZ) and Darylene
Rogers (Iwi Radio), the 35-minute online broadcast will include
the album’s lead single
Kalega,
which is currently in Spotify’s NZ viral chart. Watch the video
here.
There will also be a live Q&A session, which audiences can participate in
via Ruha’s
official
Facebook page.
One of Aotearoa’s foremost producers of powerful kapa haka traditions of song
and indigeneity, Ruha launched his solo career in 2014 and gained international recognition for his
unique style of music, which became known as ‘haka soul’.
He went on to win countless awards, including ‘Best Māori Album’ (Vodafone New Zealand Music
Awards 2014 and 2016), ‘Best
Songwriter’, ‘Best
Māori
Song’, ‘Best
Male Solo Artist’ (Waiata Māori Music Awards) and the
prestigious APRA Maioha
Award in 2014 and 2016 for his waiata
Kariri and
Tiki Tapu.
This year, Ruha received the honour of being named as one of five Laureate Award recipients
in the Arts Foundation
Awards.
Now the esteemed artist from New Zealand’s East Coast has embarked on a
collaborative project with some of the country’s finest musicians (Darren Mathiassen from
Shapeshifter, James Illingworth from Bliss n Eso, Tyna Keelan from The Nok and Johnny Lawrence from
Electric Wire Hustle)
AKA The Witch Dr.
The results are the stunning 12-track bilingual album
Survivance, which
strikes at the very heart of issues faced by Ruha’s Māori nation, from a position of
self belief and self reliance.
And in keeping with the album’s message, selected songs will get their first
public airing in this Wednesday night’s live session. The broadcast will offer
a ‘behind the scenes’ glimpse into what a studio session with Ruha and The Witch Dr. entails
and serves as a way to unify diverse audiences from around the world - as they
tune in, at the same time, in cyberspace!
“Our hope is that this collaborative content sharing experience will set a
precedent for more future opportunities to share cultural perspectives,
together forging the new ‘enlightened’ frontiers of our Aotearoa nation,” says Ruha.
Rob Ruha and The Witch Dr.– Survivance– album released Friday December 1.
There are currently no comments for this article. Please log in to add new comments.