Tauranga-based original music band Hybrid Blues can be found over in Rotorua  this Queen’s Birthday Weekend as part of the Rotorua Blues Festival.

Hybrid Blues is an original music band.  There’s the founder and leader Roy Hudson vocals, guitar, blues harp,  Brooke Stinson vocals and keyboards, Dean Cronin  lead guitar, Mark Schaumann vocals, percussion and drums, and Darrel Hartley bass. 

Hybrid Blues jamming at the Black Sheep Bar & Grill Whakamarama this summer                                              

The first thing Roy says is that “it’s a team effort” and then he goes on to tell me how as a band it’s actually much more demanding to play original compositions and music; not the same as a covers band, but  harder requiring all the artists to have their own input into the songs.

Hudson comments: “All the music is mine at the moment, but next Wednesday I’m meeting with Brooke;  Brooke’s got poems and melodies and we going to put them together in a song.  She’s not done this before, it’s a great opportunity.”  

In January of this year Hybrid Blues “launched” its first EP Sunshine at Vinyl Destination in Downtown Tauranga. In February the band was over in Rotorua performing with two other bands.  They’ve been featured on the Dionne Show  – well four of them started and Darrel showed up later!!  Stones in Ocean (from the Rotorua gig) joined Hybrid Blues and Electric Universe at the Black Sheep, Whakamarama in early May for a fundraising concert to support the Waipuna Hospice.    And there’s been international airplay.

Making the first video…

I ask Roy if they’ve had any funding support for their development as an original music group – not at the moment – they needed to have been together for at least six months at the time they applied.  “It’s about having a track record”. So they’re doing it themselves.  Setting up their structures – website, facebook, etc.  They paid for that first professionally created video and the EP production.   

They have their CD ($10 for Sunshine) sold at gigs, downloads and they’re working on  a second video “they’re doing themselves”.     Hudson says that most labels now require a group to have the structures in place and have developed a following for their independently produced material.    So they’re working hard at “self-promotion”.

I wonder if they’ve considered a sponsor?   They’d have one if there was one.  Now would be a good time as Hybrid Blues is putting together an album.    I mention The 13th Floor website where I’d seen Marty Duda and Sophie Mashlan in conversation – “you need to check it out”.   Roy tucks that in the memory bank and then tells me that he will be the subject of an interview with People of Paradise – you’ll want to check out that YouTube channel.  In the meantime here’s Sunshine!

While he’s waiting for fate to work its magic Hudson and the band are enjoying the music, developing their combined music professionalism and working hard.    Yes he’s so glad he came back to New Zealand (Hudson hails from Whakatane and affiliates to Ngati Awa).   “You should see the view from my window…”

Check out their website:   https://www.hybridblues.com/

And their facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/hybridblues/

You might want to check out a couple of other articles I’ve written about Hybrid Blues:

Cafe Culture: jamming it up at the Black Sheep: Hybrid Blues

Cafe Culture: Hybrid Blues at The Funky Lizard, Paengaroa

Blues Festival