Sometimes the outpouring of silliness in the world is so surprising that it's hard
to know where to start.

Which creates a bit of a bind when there's actually something useful, relevant and local to write about. Because my instinct is always towards the silly. If there's an inappropriate joke to be made or a pretention-bursting quip on hand, that's where I reach, for better or worse.

Singer Carol Storey and musician Grant Winterburn.

I just hope I never meet the Queen or anyone important enough that a badly-timed laugh would cause real serious offence. Because I wouldn't be able to resist, whatever the stakes.

But, with a great effort of will, I'm going to save the funny and insulting stuff for the end this week, as the local stuff I want to mention involves a friend of mine.

Yep, there's a whole pile of nepotism for you right there. Nonetheless, I defy anyone to claim that this doesn't deserve the publicity I'm giving it here, and a whole lot more besides.

An exciting musician

The friend I'm talking about is Grant Winterburn, who I regard as quite probably the most exciting musician I've ever seen to emerge from Tauranga. That's a pretty big claim, but I think it stands up...

I call him a friend because, although he now devotes most of his time to theatre work in Auckland and I haven't seen him for a year or so, I've been listening to Grant long enough for it to make me feel old when I add up the years. Ever since he was a regular feature of the town's music scene back in the glory days of the late eighties.

Wow. That does seem like a long time ago. Does anyone else out there remember those days, when the scene revolved round The Oceanside Tavern at the Mount and, on The Strand, The St Armand and its main bar The Harbour Lights?

Good old memories

Memory is a pretty subjective thing, and mine is probably different from yours, but I still hold great affection for those times, when Ritchie Pickett stomped the Terra and the up-and-coming bands were Hard To Handle and Hit And Run. Grant played with Hit And Run.

He wasn't long out of school then - or maybe he was still at school - and was heavily influenced by Keith Emerson and Deep Purple's John Lord, wildly hurling his keyboard around the stage, throwing it to the floor and playing on his knees, solos of such dynamism and technical mastery that everyone was astounded. We'd never seen anyone play like that in person, especially a seventeen year old!

He'd already won a bunch of awards at the Jazz Festival, and soon headed off to study music in Wellington. Since then he's done a massive amount of stuff, only popping up in Tauranga with the occasional show, backing Jason Ward-Lealand in Marlene or supporting Nathan Haines at the Jazz Fest.

In Auckland he's been the musical director for Cabaret and The Three Penny Opera, done RENT and The Rocky Horror Show. He's played keyboards in as many shows as I've written columns.

And, the good news is that Grant's coming down to Tauranga, the latest and (I think) last performer to play that fabulous red piano at the Art Gallery that you're probably sick of hearing about by now.

I don't know exactly what he'll be playing – he can do everything from straight-ahead jazz, to playful explorations of popular TV themes to pretty much anything from any show he's played in. And he has a special guest in the form of the wonderful Carol Storey, singer, songwriter, music educator and general gem on the music scene. Together I suspect they will create a little magic.

They're doing two shows, on the evenings of Saturday, October 11 and Sunday, October 12. Tickets are available from the Gallery and you might want to get in early as they're strictly limited to 65 for each show. You can listen to Grant and find more details at www.taurangamusic.com. And now I've got to the end and all I can do is apologise since I've run out of space for all that silly.