Jamie Macphail, the Small Hall Sessions creator and curator, at the Ebony Lamb session at Kereru Hall.
Photo / Paul Taylor
Jamie Macphail, the Small Hall Sessions creator and curator, at the Ebony Lamb session at Kereru Hall.
Photo / Paul Taylor
Breathing new life into Hawke’s Bay rural community halls, Jamie Macphail’s Small Hall Sessions have presented more than 100 shows since the start of 2022.
The Small Hall Sessions bring big and small, local and international musicians to rural Hawke’s Bay halls, reaching from Tutira in the north to Porangahau in the south.
While music is at the core, Macphail said the experience is actually about community, first and foremost.
He attributes the success of the Small Hall Sessions to the fact they bring people together, close to home, to share in something beautiful and uplifting.
Millie and Jamie Macphail behind the bar at a Small Hall Session with Ebony Lamb, at Kereru Hall in rural Hawke's Bay .
Photo / Paul Taylor
To start with, it was the names of the artists drawing people in, and Macphail said he was very fortunate to get some very big names: Tami Neilson, Reb Fountain, Julia Deans, Barry Saunders, Delaney Davidson and Hollie Smith.
However, getting to 100 shows was more about the local communities’ continued interest in seeing the Small Hall Sessions.
“Once people have come along to one or two and felt the atmosphere in these tiny halls, I think the draw is wanting to be a part of it,” Macphail said.
Getting to concerts in town can be hard for those living in remote communities as the cost and effort of travelling outweighs going to the concert.
“So it’s hard for our great musicians to reach them, and that’s where the sessions come in; we bring the music to ‘you’, however remote your community may be,” Macphail said.
The Small Hall Sessions curator had been doing tiny, intimate shows called The Sitting Room Sessions for about eight years, hosting about 150 of them over that time.
Ebony Lamb Small Hall Session captured the audience at Kereru Hall.
Photo / Paul Taylor
During the first lockdown, when people were wondering what the future might look like and Jacinda Ardern talked of the need for community, he had the idea of bringing the same artists he had been working with previously into community spaces.
Instead of doing one night, Macphail wanted to do five in a row and head out into small communities rather than staying with an urban base.
Besides Covid restrictions, there were a few other obstacles Macphail, and his team had to overcome.
The logistics of taking a professional level of live musical performance to a different venue each night was a challenge, however with the help of dedicated local professionals, they have managed to put together a kit that allows them to set up and put on a professional show, with a bar and hot meals.
“Building audiences is the biggest challenge,” Macphail said.
People are not sure what to expect, but he said once they do come along, the vast majority become regular attendees.
“The hope is that the momentum grows and we reach a point where people trust us enough to come along to every artist we bring to their small hall.”
Ebony Lamb left the audience speechless at the Kereru Small Hall Session.
Photo / Paul Taylor
When asked who his dream artist would be to play a Small Hall Session, Macphail said would be Tom Waits and Lucinda Williams; “they are both musical heroes of mine”.
On a local level, there are so many he would love to take out to these halls.
“Imagine Dave Dobbyn in the Omakere Hall, or Anika Moa in Ashley Clinton, Don MacGlashan in Sherenden,
“Hey, we have taken Tami Neilson to Pukehou; everything is possible,” he said.
The music business is a small world, so these days Macphail gets approached about once a day by an NZ artist or an international artist who is keen to be a part of the sessions.
“I wish we could host all of them, but we will stick to bringing about 25 artists a year to our wonderful region,” he said.
Reaching 100 doesn’t mean the Small Hall Sessions will be slowing down; there are still Hawke’s Bay halls they haven’t visited yet, and Macphail is looking into slightly increasing the geographical area they cover, heading a bit further afield.
“I literally get contacted by people from all around NZ asking when we will get to their local hall. We will never cover the whole country, but maybe we can share the love with some close neighbours.”
