Popular country band The Harmonic Resonators, who incorporate te reo Māori into many of their songs, will play a free concert in Te Kūiti this weekend.
The band will be at the Les Munro Centre on Saturday, performing from 1pm to 2pm, and 3pm to 4pm.
The purpose of the community day is to come together to celebrate and observe Te Whitu o Matariki, Waitomo District Council communications staffer Jenelle Burnell said.
“Matariki is a time where people, whānau and communities gather to remember the year that has passed, to celebrate the present and to plan for next year.
“Our community day will have music from Te Kūiti High School … and a showcase from Xtreme Hip Hop.
“We will have tā moko artists Aihe Huirama Takerei and Raukawa Manning selling their art and also offering the opportunity to receive a tā moko.
“There will also be stalls selling handmade wallets, clutches, bags, New Zealand designed jewellery, apparel and crafts,” Jenelle said.
Harmonic Resonators’ front man Jeremy Hantler said the band had not yet explored Te Kūiti, although they had passed through on the way to New Plymouth.
But they looked forward to learning more about this town.
Jeremy said the band’s emphasis on te reo Māori came about after a video of the group playing a te reo Māori waiata went viral online.
It marked a new direction for
the performers.
“[Now] we’ve got … heaps of the old waiata there in our setlists.
“We have had some really uplifting interactions with local communities that have really encouraged us to keep going on our journey.”
Next week’s King Country News will feature a special interview with Jeremy, discussing a range of issues including the band’s aspirations for language revitalisation, and their journey of connecting with the reo.
