Unusual soiree will bring a smile to your face

Sonia Wilson and Nigel Gavin will be performing Home Is Where The HeART Is in Māhia and Hastings.

A multimedia show combining live music, storytelling and improvised visual art will be on stage in Māhia tomorrow and Hastings on Tuesday.

The Sonia and Nigel “Home Is Where the HeART Is Tour” is a celebration of music and art as precious tools for (self-) exploration, integration, healing and generating joy across cultures, generations, kilometres or beliefs.

A rare family reunion between the popular NZ-based Sonia Wilson and Nigel Gavin duo and Sonia’s parents James and Karen visiting from France, this unusual soiree is bound to bring a smile to your face. Wilson and Gavin are a multi-cultural acoustic duo featuring French-American Paris-born Wilson on vocals and ukulele and Kiwi-American virtuoso musician Gavin on seven-string guitar.

After meeting and playing together for the first time at the Whare Flat Folk Festival in Dunedin during Wilson’s first visit to New Zealand on a solo round-the-world trip in December 2014, the pair have since become a well-loved duo in the New Zealand folk music scene. They weave French, Kiwi and American songs with their own original compositions and inspiration from their travels around the world.

Wilson was born and raised in Paris, educated in the UK and is now based in Auckland. The Franco-American singer, songwriter and musician had a dizzying musical apprenticeship. A member of both gospel and acapella choirs from a young age, her music has taken her from the streets of Paris, across the Kenyan savannah, through remote Himalayan villages and then “home” to New Zealand.

Gavin is a highly regarded solo artist, composer and session musician, best known for his seven-string guitar playing. Initially a visitor from Long Island, New York, now a New Zealand resident, Nigel is a stalwart of New Zealand’s music scene, playing guitar, banjo, mandolin and bass - indeed, almost anything with strings - with the Nairobi Trio, the Fondue Set, the Jews Brothers, the Blue Bottom Stompers, Lorina Harding, Wayne Gillespie, Whirimako Black and Jonathan Besser & Bravura among others.

He has also found time to create and mentor the multi-guitar ensemble Gitbox Rebellion. Gavin is a guitarist with remarkable versatility who is respected by other players around the world and who excites audiences with jaw-dropping solos. He continues to work internationally in New Zealand, Europe, Australia and the US.

Shows

• January 14, 4-6pm at Sunset Point Bar & Bistro, Mahia. Free entry.
• Tuesday, January 16, 7.30pm at Hastings Community Arts Centre, Hastings. Tickets available on Eventfinda.