When Chris Dent a.k.a. Albi, moved to Auckland in early 2014, he fortuitously made the acquaintance of Micheal Young, Pascal Roggen and Matt Owens. These four unlikely fellows started something that immediately had a force unto itself: Albi & The Wolves – a dynamic acoustic folk ensemble infusing elements of country, soul, indie-rock and pop.
Having since made waves around the country and beyond, the band (now Chris, Micheal and Pascal) celebrate their debut album One Eye Open – out December 9th, a labour of love that has been in the works for nearly two years. The band will also be back on the road from December through to the end of January, bringing their new songs to a town near you.
“There is something to be said for that initial excitement when you first pack the car - it’s like being back in school again with all your friends. A certain energy that comes with fitting a double bass in a tiny Toyota and placing your self beside it” states Albi. “When we first took that car to Raglan, New Plymouth and Hamilton, our collected audience over the weekend would have probably been 40 people. But at the end of that trip something had changed, we were in for something bigger even if we didn’t know what. We had become the close knit unit that most of our fans will be familiar with now.”
The entire album’s recording process took place in Micheal Young’s Studio 27A Ltd, from tracking of the band and talented guest banjo players Nat Torkington and Bryan Christianson, to mixing and mastering.
Says Albi. “ To survive as a band we had to adapt. This boiled down to one simple fact: you need to make people move. As we began to play around the country we started to get good at that, and began to tailor songs to that cause. Each new track would have two different aims: to leave people moved or to make them move.”
Albi & The Wolves want to take listeners on a journey and want them to feel as though the band are there with them, live.
“What makes this summer special is we are going further than ever before to a lot of new places. We hope to see you on our travels and we hope that you like the album we have made.” AATW
One Eye Open is available for purchase from iTunes, Amazon and all good DSPs, plus CDs will be available from their website and at live shows.
ALBI AND THE WOLVES ONE EYE OPEN NZ TOUR DATES:
9th December 2016 - Nectar - Auckland - Album Launch Partyw/ Miller Yule
16th December 2016 - Common Room - Napier w/ Julia Morris
29th December 2016 - Rhythm And Alps Campsite – Wanaka
30th December to 2nd Jan 2017 - Whare Flat Folk Festival - Dunedin
5th January 2017- House Concert - Invercargill
6th January 2017- The Sherwood – Queenstown
7th January 2017- The Grainstore Gallery - Oamaru
8th January 2017 - Alvarados Mexican Cantina – Christchurch
11th January 2017 - House Concert – Nelson Koha
12th January 2017 - East Street – Nelson
13th January 2017 - TBA - Wellington
14th January 2017 - Coro Sonic Lab Fest - Coromandel
19th January 2017 - Nivara Lounge - Hamilton
20th January 2017 - TBA - New Plymouth
21st January 2017 - The Rogue Stage – Rotorua w/ Jim Jones & the People's Temple
22nd January 2017 - The Hop House - Mt Maunganui
26th January 2017 - The Old Stone Butter Factory – Whangarei w/ Otium
27th January 2017 - Thirty/30 – Paihia
28th January 2017 - Rocksalt - Kerikeri