Archives For Rosy Tin Teacaddy

Win a treasure unearthed from the Pink and White Terraces

 —  15/07/2011

The competition to win a limited edition copy of Wild Creations artists Rosy Tin Teacaddy’s new album All Mountains are Men is closed.

Jack van Hal, from Hillsborough in Christchurch, is our winner. Congratulations!

The challenge was to name the two New Zealand native birds featured in Bucketful of Bones and Beauty My Dear. The correct answers are:

_______________________

Rosy Tin Teacaddy’s album All Mountains are Men is a national treasure, and we have a numbered limited edition CD to give away.

Wellington folk duo Rosy Tin Teacaddy

But more on that later. First I’ll try to explain why I’m sounding like such a tragic fanboy.

It’s partly a pride thing. The whole album was written and recorded in an isolated DOC cottage beside Lake Tarawera while the ’Caddies were on a Wild Creations artists’ residency so, in some small and frankly delusory way, I feel I contributed. And the whole Bon Iver, lonely-cabin-in-the-woods vibe doesn’t hurt.

Then there’s the way New Zealand past and present seems to have been captured in miniature in the songs. Released on the 125th anniversary of the eruption of Mt Tarawera, the record rings with echoes of the explosion that buried Te Wairoa and engulfed the Pink and White Terraces, the “Eighth Wonder of the World”.

The album was written and recorded at Lake Tarawera

Lake and mountain flirt shamelessly, the local telegraph master stays at his post to report the disaster as ash rains down and dead men turn up at their own funerals.

None of this would mean diddly if the songs hadn’t lodged themselves in my subconscious ever since a colleague played me the demos.

Apart from the title track, the songs I keep coming back to are a lament to the lost Pink and White Terraces called Beauty, My Dear, domestic-scene-with-disaster Out of the Frying Pan into Fire, and Telegrams and Ashes, which documents the eruption in staccato telegraphese.

The songs are mysterious and evocative, mythic and everyday, funny and sad, richly melodic and wrapped in beautiful harmonies. What Gillian Welch and David Rawlings do for Americana, RTT do for New Zealand’s songwriting traditions.

But don’t take my word for it.

Check out All Mountains are Men on Bandcamp.

Cover of Rosy Tin Teacaddy album All Mountains are Men

All Mountains are Men CD

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Slow burner for a cold winter

Rob Griffiths —  30/05/2011
What do you get when two musicians are sent in song-writing exile to the scene of one of New Zealand’s largest volcanic eruption? You get a crackling new album rising from the ashes.
 
In 2010 Billy Earl (Andy Hummel -The Woolshed Sessions, Rhian Sheehan) and Betty Grey (Holly Jane Ewens) of Wellington folk duo ‘Rosy Tin Teacaddy’ spent six weeks on the shores of Lake Tarawera. The duo were the recipients of the Wild Creations artist in residence programme, a joint venture between the Department of Conservation and Creative NZ. They set out to research, write and record their translations of local history and isolation in a site-responsive manner.
Temporary recording studio - Lake Tarawera

Temporary recording studio - Lake Tarawera

The result is a work that explores the lead-up to, and aftermath of, the 1886 eruption of Mount Tarawera and subsequent loss of the self-appointed eighth wonder of the world – the Pink and White Terraces.

Rosy Tin Teacaddy have made use of historical anecdotes and found sounds (while holding fast to their harmonic and word-wizardry roots), in their new full-length release All Mountains Are Men. Presented with hand-numbered booklets, the album extends the duo’s artistic concept beyond the audio as they translate stories of the past into a present-day archival treasure.

Album cover - All Mountains Are Men

Album cover - All Mountains Are Men

The BATS theatre show, ‘Coffee Cups and a Porridge Pot at Frying Pan Lake’ gave audiences a taste of this experience in May 2010.

Forthcoming single Telegrams and Ashes, uses snippets from newspapers of the day with a dedication to the local telegraph master. Sitting on a bed of backwards guitar and finger-clicks there is little to suggest this album is merely two folkies strumming away in the back-blocks.

Playing on location - All Mountains Are Men

Playing on location - All Mountains Are Men

There is cheek amongst the ruins too, with songs like Blow Your Top where the duo imagine the lake and mountain flirting with one another in a present context—’Facebooking, perhaps’, while the lament Beauty, My Dear swells with loss and hope—’Can’t have a clear sky, without a frost/Beauty, my dear comes at a cost’.

Simultaneously cinematic and intimate, this album is layered as deep as the lake bed and seeks to provide fans with a slow burner through the cold winter months ahead.

All Mountains Are Men will be released with a blessing by local kaumatua at Lake Tarawera on June 10, in conjunction with the 125th commemoration of the eruption of Mt Tarawera. This will be followed at 7pm by a concert in the stunning historic Rotorua Museum of Art and History.

Album release venue - Rotorua Museum

Album release venue - Rotorua Museum

The following evening, Saturday June 11, Rosy Tin Teacaddy will play at the Buried Village, Te Wairoa, Lake Tarawera, joining Cornel de Ronde (GNS Science) as he shares his findings of recent exploration of the Rotomahana lake bed and the discovery of remnants of the Pink Terrace.

For both these evenings, bookings are advised. Contact the Rotorua Museum (07) 350 1814, or the Buried Village (07) 3628287.

Rosy Tin Teacaddy will be touring All Mountains Are Men throughout the country with Bond St Bridge (AKL) who is also promoting his new album, Spring Summer Awesome Winter.

For more on Rosy Tin Teacaddy and their full line up of shows check out their Facebook page.

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Tarawera’s Tin Teacaddy

Rob Griffiths —  15/04/2010

Billy Earl and Betty Grey

Rosy Tin Teacaddy rolled into Rotorua a few weeks ago in a Toyota jammed full of chaos, for the first of their Wild Creations residencies. Billy Earl & Betty Grey are the creative geniuses behind the indie-folk band, Rosy Tin Teacaddy. As apart of the Wild creations programme they have come up with the inspiring idea of creating a new collection of songs based on their experiences, the land, and the people and stories of Tarawera.    

The Wild Creations residency programme is a partnership between Creative NZ (Provides the funding) and the Department of Conservation (Host the artists) allowing great folks like Billy & Betty the opportunity to get away from it all and do what they do best – create!   

Sunrise over Tarawera

During their latest stay they have been out and about researching the area by day, visiting local ‘hot spots’ and catching up with locals etc. By night they can be found at their humble abode writing & playing. All this mixed in with numerous cups of tea of course!    

According to Billy & Betty this first stint has mainly been dedicated to devising their stage show, which is playing at BATS theatre May 19 to 22. “The show and the album project have become parts of the same thing. The show is almost the springboard into the project as a whole” comments Andy.    

“On our next visit to the area we are hoping to coincide the dates with the anniversary of the Mt Tarawera eruption (10th June 1886). Some may say that this is a great coincidence. I believe that it is somewhat serendipitous” says Betty.    

“We are hoping to throw together a special anniversary gig for the locals come June”    

Creating the night away…

Stay posted on the latest escapades by checking their blog site: http://rosytinteacaddy.wordpress.com/
Become a Rosy Tin Teacaddy Facebook Fan
If you’re in Wellington don’t miss the show at BATS: 19th – 22nd May 2010
And, stay tuned for updates on a special Tarawera Anniversary gig in Rotorua! 
Wild Creations on the DOC website

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