If there are indeed eight million stories in the naked city then there are at least a few hundred in Tauranga. These are two-and-a-half of them...

Craig Jamieson has retired. This means a lot. Craig has, for the last five years, been in charge of sound at the Jam Factory during which time he engineered more than 400 gigs. If you've been there you have no doubt seen him and listened to his work.

Four hundred is, I don't really need to say, a helluva lot of shows – and made more impressive by the diversity of music, each style with its own demands, from classical to blues, jazz, folk, punk, reggae, the lot...

In a way it was fitting Craig should wind up there, a full circle back to Tauranga. He started in the mid-1980s as Baycourt's technical director when the new complex was just finding its way. Craig says: 'I grew up very involved in the Tauranga Operatic Society and Repertory, and gravitated towards the technical department”.

'I created the first surround sound special effects I know of in the Repertory theatre in about 1970. Although I was a lighting specialist, my heart was in sound as I have a great love of music.”

Wellington

He then headed to Wellington's Downstage Theatre, Opera House and eventually Michael Fowler Centre, where he was head of lighting for nearly a decade. He was also a freelance theatre consultant and production manager for tours by the likes of Cleo Laine, Eartha Kitt, Shirley Bassey, and the NZSO Summer Pops.

Many a musician will miss Craig's unassuming and expert manner – but he says he still has a lot to do, including finishing writing a book about life in the theatre. He also plans to travel to Europe later in the year 'after a wee rest”.

Also well-known by musicians, particularly guitarists, is Waylon McPherson who runs McPherson Music Repairs in Papamoa. Waylon is also a musician. Back in 2005 he was managed by the legendary Ray Columbus and with band 4Eulogi cracked the Top 20 with a song called ‘Over You'. You can find it on YouTube, though the band did not last.

After that Waylon played regular covers gigs but due to a vocal issue three years back had to stop singing. He told me: 'I thought that was the end of singing for me but after a lot of vocal therapy, I was able to start again late last year”.

However, the three or more hours demanded of covers gigs was too much so he decided to return to his own music and with that end started Whiskey Soho.

Burn

Now he has a first single, ‘Burn', on digital platforms and has been invited to support rockers Midwave Breaks at their Totara Street show on Friday, May 19.

Waylon is doing interesting things with his music. Though ‘Burn' is largely acoustic he describes his new approach this way: 'I perform all the drum parts, bass and guitar at the same time while singing. I use a lot of non-acoustic tones like synth sounds, distortion and heavy fuzz to get a very big sound, similar to an entire band. I do employ a looper, but only when I take a guitar solo occasionally, otherwise I like to keep it all in real time”.

Either that will make perfect sense to you or it'll sound like gobbledegook. You could perhaps have a look at Waylon's new song, ‘Lucky One', on his Facebook or Insta page and see for yourself. It's kinda impressive.

Midwave Breaks is former Supergroove drummer Paul Russell and singer-songwriter Bruce Conlon, a Tauranga alt-rock duo currently on a nine-date tour for New Zealand Music Month. They've been getting attention on rock radio since their 2021 debut with a string of independent singles. Tickets $25; show 8pm.

And here's the half-story – details to come... Local blues rockers Rehaab is also marking NZMM, in their case with ‘Fat Boy', a new bike-centric song and video made with help of the team at East Coast Harley Davidson. Full story next week. In the meantime, check it out at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EptgY1BD59I

Waylon McPherson. Photo: Supplied.