Skin & Bone - the Cowboy Lounge Tour @ Barrytown Hall

Skin & Bone are a five piece acoustic swing band from Ōtepoti, Dunedin. Formed relatively recently, they are nevertherless a product of some very longstanding musical friendships. Difficult to pigeon-hole, a substantial portion of their repertoire is 1930’s style swing, and they are popular in their hometown as an energetic dance band who will always pack the dance floor. In addition, they have a sizeable number of original tunes, that tend toward acoustic rock, and contemporary folk music from Aotearoa. The band has recently released their first album ‘Last Bus to Brockville’ featuring a collection of these original tunes together with a sampling of that old style swing. The band also pride themselves on close harmony vocals from three lead singers.

Mike Moroney and John Dodd have performed together for over 30 years in the iconic folk band The Chaps, that undertook 3 tours of Europe, many tours of NZ, and released 3 albums before disbanding. Anna Bowen joined this group in its latter days, having already been working in a duo with Mike (Catgut and Steel) for many years. When Catgut and Steel started to develop their repertoire toward a swing sound they pulled John back into their mix, and he brought with him his favourite drummer Steve ‘Huddy’ Hudson from their rock’n’roll band the Whirling Eddys (another band of longetivity, having entertained Dunedin audiences since the mid nineties). Huddy has an innate grasp of feel and with Moroney’s so solid guitar chunk and the walking bass lines, this band truly swings. Anna is a gifted fiddler and also crucial to the band’s groove, and to complement this they wished for another solo instrument, clarinet specifically, and discovered the talented Emily Sterk hiding out in the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra. The clarinet/fiddle mix makes our sound distinctive, and when Anna moves over to the mandolin it only makes the rhythm more driving.
With their infectious energy, impressive musical pedigree, and captivating blend of styles, Skin & Bone is a band you won’t want to miss.