Summer In the Square - Donna Dean

Auckland Live presents Music in the Square.

It wouldn’t be Auckland Live Summer in the Square without a sensational music line-up, and this summer is no exception. Music-man extraordinaire, Matthew Crawley has gone and blown us all out of the water with an eclectic range of musical acts to enjoy in Aotea Square.

If you’re a music nerd or you simply love a cool beverage in the sun while the sweet sounds of live music sizzle in the background, come on down to the Square and make the most of this free music programme. It’s going to be a scorcher!

As part of Auckland Live Summer in the Square.

Donna Dean
Folk
Donna Dean has been a waitress, a Nanny and a oyster cook. She has played music in high security hospital wards for the mentally ill, for audiences throughout Germany and across the Southwest U.S.A. With more than two decades of songcraft, recording and touring, the stage is her second home. Donna has recorded with songwriting/music legends Gurf Morlix, Russell Smith and The Amazing Rhythm Aces, Amos Garrett, Albert Lee and toured with Dan Penn, Spooner Oldham and Jimmy Webb.

Her back story and music career is the subject of award winning documentary film 'The Sound of Her Guitar' which premiered in New Zealand 2016 and screened at the Winnipeg Aboriginal film festival, Canada 2017 and the South Texas International Film Festival, U.S.A. 2018. Donna Dean is one of our most respected songwriters—twice winner of New Zealand Country Music Album of the Year—an artist who has recorded and toured all over the world to critical acclaim. But Donna's has been no easy road. She grew up in Auckland’s Glen Innes in a home beset by alcoholism, abuse and violence.

When she left home at 15, Donna found herself pregnant and, just like her mother, caught up in a violent relationship. She turned to alcohol to hide the pain. But Donna's mother had instilled in her daughter a profound love for music—and it was this, along with Donna's willpower and determination, that would eventually give her a way out of the darkness—escaping a cycle of violence and addiction to become a successful and much-loved songwriter. The film follows Donna and her band on their recent tour of the United States, then finally brings her home to confront her past.