- May 11, 2019
She Has To Be Loved was a celebration of New Zealand female recording artists, 1979-2009, and it was a long time coming for Quiet Storm. You see, on 11 May 2014, when we were still a dedicated acoustic duo, we were booked to celebrate New Zealand Music Month at the Palmerston North City Library. It was also Mother’s Day. We started thinking about how to celebrate those two occasions together; then Debs got hit by a terrible flu virus and an upper respiratory tract infection and we never actually got to do the gig. She subsequently lost her voice and was on vocal rest for six months, still thinking about Music Month and Mother’s Day.
The song list she put together then was the song list that developed into our She Has To Be Loved shows in 2019. We could never have imagined we’d get to perform it in gorgeous venues to fantastic audiences under amazingly cool lights alongside the best bunch of crazy cats you could ever hope to be playing music with, but that’s what happened. We started our mini tour at the Globe Theatre in Palmerston North and followed up with two further performances: one at Old St Paul’s in Wellington and one at the Carterton Events Centre in Wairarapa. Talk about coming a long way from a kernel of an idea in 2014.
We initially wanted to perform all the concerts in May as a statement about the lack of representation our female kiwi artists receive in general and especially during the month dedicated to celebrating New Zealand music. Sadly, venue bookings meant we had to spread them out and only one actually occurred in New Zealand Music Month. Manawatu People’s Radio came to the rescue and recorded our first performance at The Globe as part of their Live from the Living Room initiative. A playlist of the three songs they showcased with our discussion included can be viewed on MPR’s YouTube channel.
When we first started seriously planning this show, we wanted to do something memorable for the people who came to see it; instead, we felt our audiences did something memorable for us. The enthusiasm and obvious love for the songs we showcased proves this music does, indeed, deserve to be played more. We want to thank our audiences for their support. This was our first venture into producing and promoting our own shows, and they made it such an enjoyable experience that we will definitely do it again.
- Covers band
- Press coverage
