ARTISTS

Folk / Children's Music
Contact: Craig Smith Ph +64 273 433 537
www.craigsmith.co.nz

July means Kidsfest so we thought we'd take a look at the mysterious world of NZ children's music. Craig Smith is currently one of NZ's most popular children's music artists with his APRA award winning song The Wonky Donkey which has evolved into a best-selling book with over 40,000 copies sold to date. We have a chat to Craig about his inspirations, the phenomenon which is the Wonkey Donkey and his other solo projects...

Pop/Surf Rock
Contact: Callum Devlin
www.myspace.com/custardbear

June's Featured Artist, Custard Bear are the grand prize winners of the CHARTFEST 2010 Band Team Search competition. Other than being CHART's Featured Artist for June the band also pick up some awesome prizes such as a P.A. courtesy of Music Works, a professionally recorded single thanks to The Sitting Room and Tandem Voice Booth and much more. Veterans of disfunction and disorganisation, Custard Bear are pulling their furry little heads out of the ground in preparation for a monstorous bellow, but they are more afraid of you than you are of them...

Post/Prog/Ambient Rock
Contact: Josh Braden Ph +64 27 385 7809
www.myspace.com/anthesiac

With comparisons to Radiohead, HDU and Sigur Ros, Christchurch's post/prog/ambient rockers Anthesiac are all set to rip it up at CHARTFEST 2010 and their standout track Bliss features on this month's CHARTDISC Vol 3...

Neo-Soul/Roots
Contact: Mark Vanilau
www.myspace.com/markvanilau

Christchurch roots singer songwiter Mark Vanilau performs at this month's NZ Intl Jazz & Blues Festival and is our April 2010 Featured Artist. Mark Vanilau is a multi-talented musician and songwriter. He has created a solid reputation and constantly writes and performs with other artists, having connections throughout New Zealand and overseas...

Hip Hop
Contact: J Dubs
www.myspace.com/organiksnz

J Dubs first album is a selection of butter-smooth vibrations enriched with soul. ‘The Keynotes’ is a product of patience and passion, a project that took many years to manifest. Waiting for the appropriate time, J Dubs – aka Ben James – began making music at 14, MCing and eventually hosting RDU’s $ Mix hip-hop show before catching the attention of Shapeshifter’s Devin Abrams...

60's Garage/Punk Rock
Contact: Trevor Courtney Ph: +64 21 0240 7203
www.chantsrandb.com

Chants R&B had a residency every weekend from 1964 -1966 at The Stagedoor, a grungy cellar downstairs from a coffee bar in what was Hereford Lane (now Tramway Lane) adjacent to Cathedral Square. The Chants are back and playing Al's Bar on Fri 26th and Sat 27th of Feb. Read on to see how to win a double pass and limited edition LP...