Trio bringing a touch of Europe to New Zealand

There'll be a distinct international flavour to proceedings at Fairfield House on Sunday, when indie-folk musician Flip Grater and friends hit town, Alice Cowdrey reports. --------------------

Europe, country music, Americana and a bit of fate have thrown together three musicians for a tour of New Zealand, and this weekend they will exhibit their talents at Nelson's Fairfield House.

Hitting the road for Le Tour de Trois are French-born Marianne Dissard and Kiwis Delaney Davidson and Flip Grater, with the trio promising to deliver a "little touch of musical Europe".

All three musicians have spent time touring Europe, and have been seduced by cities that gave them inspiration for many of the songs they are touring with.

For much of their New Zealand trip, they have played individually, with Dissard arriving in New Zealand only last week.

However, a few free days this week have allowed them to collaborate on a few songs to play as a group.

"We have just agreed on a couple of songs that we are going to do together, covers and old songs, so by the time we get to Nelson, we will be doing a set each and then a set together," says an efficient-sounding Grater down the phone.

"Even though our songs are very different, they all have similar sort of roots, so it's been really wonderful to try and get together and combine our own sounds to make a whole new sound.

"It's amazing fun, it's the best fun I have had in ages.

"[Dissard and Davidson] are both wonderful people and also wonderful songwriters, so the great thing is we all have quite similar influences, because we are all strongly influenced by country and alt-country and Americana sort of sounds, but also by really traditional European sounds."

Over the past six years, Grater has established herself as an indie-folk artist, having released an EP, two albums and a book. She likes to combine music with her other passion, food, having completed her "incredible" European Cookbook Tour in 2008.

"For me, it's just that [food and music] bring people together in a really unique way, and I think that they are both able to bring people from different countries together as well.

"Food and music are both things that everybody has in common, the world over."

The tour resulted in not only the writing of a second cookbook, which includes the story of the tour and recipes she collected along the way – it got her writing for her third album.

A move to Auckland from her home city Christchurch gave her a kick along in the creative department.

"It was a bit scary, but what I needed, I think, was to get out of my comfort zone and be challenged in new ways and find a new inspiration, because I am in a little bit of a songwriting rut, and as soon as I got here, songs just started flowing.

"A lot of that was influenced by my European tour last year, but I was able to immediately go into the studio and record my third album within two weeks."

She is chuffed with the results.

"It's definitely more folky than the last one, and it's sort of a break-up album, so it has some quite sad themes going through it, but also very reflective. I feel like it's the album I always wanted to make – I am really, really in love with it."

The bubbly Dissard says she has been on a high since starting the tour during her first visit to New Zealand.

"It's more like a vacation than a tour.

"I love touring and I have an album (L'Entredeux) that came out last September, and the best way to introduce an album is to come and be there and tour."

Her vocal style sits somewhere between the highly expressive French chanson tradition and Americana. She has always wanted to visit New Zealand, having no expectations before she left her home in Tucson, Arizona.

"I didn't think it would work out so well – again, I didn't have any expectations. I just wanted to be here and see what it would turn out to be. We all agree that the three of us singing together is really cool."

Le Tour de Trois visits Fairfield House on Sunday. Tickets $15 from undertheradar.co.nz. Doors open at 7pm for an 8pm start.

- © Fairfax NZ News