02 June 2019 - 0 Comments

Wellington’s much-loved Hobnail celebrate the huge milestone of 25 years together and still going strong! Presenting Boots and All, their 25th anniversary Best of Album and their national tour!

It’s June 1994, and a brand new band called Hobnail Boots take the stage at Wellington’s Molly Malones. Within 18 months the band has recorded their first album, and Rob Joass (guitar and vocals) and Jo Moir (violin and vocals) have embarked on their first trip through North America and Europe.

25 years later and they have made their way through marriages, divorces, growing families, 7 albums, over 1,000 shows, at least 100 trips across Cook Strait, hundreds of flights, and somewhere north of 250,000 km’s in the tour van.

The well-travelled Wellington group have devoted fans across New Zealand & overseas and are celebrating this milestone at a time when, collectively and as individuals, they’re hitting a peak of their musical powers. They are 3-time finalists at the NZ Music Awards for both albums and singles, and both Rob Joass (a songwriter’s songwriter – NZ Musician) and Caroline Easther (legendary drummer of The Chills, Verlaines and more) have released well received solo albums in 2019.

Where many bands struggle to happily make two years, let alone 25, Hobnail continue to go from strength to strength. Their music shows a great understanding of each other’s playing style and thinking, and there is no denying the quality of the music they write and interpret. They also like each other, a big help in maintaining harmonious relations. As drummer Caroline Easther says “my favourite thing about Hobnail is that we’re like family…we go back a long way and have each other’s backs”

Boots And All (the album) brings together favourites from across their entire career. While Hobnail started life playing Irish bars, they have always incorporated rock and country songs and influences into their repertoire. With this in mind there is a noticeable Celtic influence on display in early tracks like Haul Away and Maria’s Last Words, while later tracks show a broader folk/rock range, whether that be in the bluegrass tinged Every Single Day, the country feel of String Things with pedal steel guitar, or the guitar driven rock sound of Elbow and Sierra Leone, the latter being their cover of the Coconut Rough classic released in NZ Music Month 2019.

“Listening back over the albums while compiling the Best Of, it has also been great to rediscover so many gems from the past. There's some really good songs in the back catalogue that we haven’t played for a while so it will be nice to dust off some of those for the tour along with some recent favorites.”

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The Boots And All 25th Anniversary Tour
Tickets via eventfinda except where noted

Fri 28 June Marton Players Theatre
Sat 29 June Palmerston North, Bent Horseshoe (bookings ph 06 329 8808)
Fri 5 July Nelson, The Boathouse
Sat 6 July Onekaka Mussel Inn (door sales only)
Sat 13 July Mistlewood House Concert (bookings 03 324 2884)
Sun 14 July Christchurch Folk Club (door sales only)
Thur 18 July New Plymouth, 4th Wall Theatre (bookings 0800 424 925)
Fri 19 July Auckland, The Wine Cellar
Sat 20 July Whanganui, Savage Club
Sun 21 July Wellington, Meow (tickets at www.justtheticketnz.com)

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