Much-loved Wellington band Trinity Roots are hitting the road and heading to the Bay of Plenty to celebrate the release of their third studio album, Citizen.

They perform at Mount Maunganui's Mauao Performing Arts Centre on Wednesday, June 10, then shoot across to Whakatane to play Detour Bar & Lounge on Thursday, June 11.

Trinity Roots are coming to Mount Maunagnui and Whakatane this month. From left: Warren Maxwell, Rio Hunuki-Hemopo and Ben Lemi. Photo: Supplied.

Trinity Roots drummer Ben Lemi says the national tour has been an amazing experience so far.

'The shows have gone great,” says Ben. 'There's been awesome responses from audiences and real good vibes all round.

'It'll be the first time I've played with Trinity Roots as their drummer in the Bay of Plenty so I'm really looking forward to that.

'Our good mate Ed Zuccollo will also be with us playing Rhodes organ and Moog synthesiser, which is a bit of a treat. It brings quite a futuristic sound to the live shows.”

Ben is Trinity Roots' third drummer, having joined the band a couple of years ago, but he says it still feels 'pretty fresh”.

'We're creating new things and new energies,” he adds.

It was while studying jazz at the New Zealand School of Music that he first met the band's frontman Warren Maxwell, who was a lecturer at the time.

'When the last drummer (Jean Pompey) left the band I got a phone call from Warren, who told me to come and have a jam,” explains Ben, 'so that's how that all happened.

'Warren and Rio are really great guys to work with - they're pretty open to ideas and amazing musicians.”

There are many elements that makes up the Trinity Roots sound, with nods to roots, jazz, reggae and Te Ao Maaori featuring heavily on 2001 album True and 2004's Home, Land and Sea.

Released this year, Citizen has seen the band tip-toe down newer paths, exploring more genres on the album.

'There's still a decent amount of the ‘roots' sounds,” says Ben. 'We all felt it was really important to pay homage to that sound.

'But we also use those sounds as a platform to head off in different directions. You get a bit more of the jazz headspace and the rocky, proggy headspace on the album.”

Contained on many of Trinity Roots' albums are themes and messages that focus on social conscience, political activism and spirituality, amongst many other things.

The band continues to explore these themes on Citizen, with Ben explaining the album is a 'call to listeners and audiences”.

He says: 'It's a call for them to consider where they place their values in life, in terms of placing value on material possessions, or are they more interested in spiritual, intangible things?”

For Ben, his favourite track off the album at the moment is the title track, ‘Citizen', and is one for audiences to look out for when they perform next month.

'It's a song that has a bit of the old roots sound – a bit of reggae guitar skank - but it's also pretty adventurous,” he adds.

'We've also got a good mate, James Illingworth, an amazing jazz and classically trained pianist, who appears on the track. His contribution is pretty unconventional in a lot of ways. It's really cool.”

Trinity Roots perform at the Mauao Performing Arts Centre in Mount Maunganui on Wednesday, June 10, and Detour Bar & Lounge in Whakatane on Thursday, June 11. Both shows are R18.

Tickets cost $30 and can be purchased via the Eventfinda website: www.eventfinder.co.nz

Check out the official video to Trinity Roots' track ‘Haiku' below: