Grace Cummings to play Small Hall sessions

Grace Cummings will play two Small Hall sessions - one in Bridge Pa, and one in Pukehou.

Grace Cummings is a young Australian singer-songwriter on her first visit to New Zealand, touring the country as the opening act for The Veils.

While on tour, she has agreed to do three solo headline shows - two with The Small Hall Sessions in Hawke’s Bay, and the third at the iconic Wine Cellar in Auckland.

With the recent devastation to much of the region, the Small Hall Sessions has pared back its tours over February, March and April, but organiser Jamie Macphail felt that presenting these two shows would offer some respite and perhaps a distraction from the massive recovery work under way for many.

Macphail said that he had been working to bring Cummings to Hawke’s bay for 18 months now, and that it would be a shame to miss this opportunity of presenting her to a new audience here in Hawke’s Bay.

Hailing from Melbourne, Cummings is a folk/blues musician who plays piano and guitar, “but it is her extraordinary vocal range and her dramatic delivery that has gained her an international reputation and made her a festival favourite, with appearances at many significant festivals throughout Europe and the US over the last two years”, Macphail said.

Her debut album, Refuge Cove, was released in 2019 and received major critical acclaim, not only in her home country, but also in the US. She subsequently signed to a major US label and released her sophomore album Storm Queen in 2022.

“With her throaty vocals, acoustic guitar and harmonica, Cummings conjures the sound of the early-1960s folk revival, singing with great command her poetic musings to a minimalist accompaniment.

“She most often performs with her band, but her two shows in Hawke’s Bay will be solo appearances featuring her with guitar, harmonica and playing a beautiful vintage Yamaha Stage Piano, rare in that it is a fully stringed piano with pickups on every string, which gives it the sound of an acoustic piano.”

Cummings will play on Sunday, March 19 in the Hastings Deerstalkers Association Clubrooms in Bridge Pā, and on Wednesday, March 22 in the beautiful Christ’s Church in Pukehou, one of the oldest wooden churches in New Zealand. There will be a bar and meals will be available. Tickets and more information are available on The Small Hall Sessions website: www.smallhallsessions.co.nz.