Wellington’s harmonica virtuoso, Neil Billington, teams up with Tauranga bluesman Mike Garner for shows in Wellington and Nelson/Marlborough in March 2017.
Billington and Garner present a show of old-time and Chicago blues, featuring the phenomenal harmonica playing of Billington with Garner’s acoustic and slide guitars. They toured Japan with this show in 2014, 2015 and 2016, including the prestigious “Live Magic” Festival in Tokyo, 2016.
Neil Billington, from Wellington, is NZ's finest exponent of the blues harmonica, able to cover the blues greats, on acoustic or amplified harmonica, as well as the more demanding chromatic harp. He is equally at home whether playing in the ‘Chicago-style’ of Little Walter or the more sophisticated jazz sensibilities of the Belgian jazz great, Jean ‘Toots’ Thielemans.
Mike Garner is a well-known blues singer and songwriter with nearly 40 years experience. He has performed extensively in festivals in both Australia and here in New Zealand as well as touring the UK, Europe, Japan, Australia, Nepal and the Pacific. Mike plays acoustic, electric and resonator guitars, harmonica and occasionally mandolin and other stringed instruments too!