Alan Downes - Hawke's Bay Ballads

One musician singing original songs about Hawkes Bay people and places. Alan was a long-time country boy. He spent his first five decades living in the backblocks of Hawke’s Bay hearing stories, and telling a few of his own, when the locals got together for a country dance or a party.

His heart is still in Hawkes Bay. When he moved to town, he picked up a guitar and started writing songs to capture the memories. Following the traditions of country and folk music, Alan's songs are narratives on the ordinary and extraordinary people that don’t make the history books.

Alan sings lyrical ballads about the New Zealand that we need to remember, the good times and how the bad times can give you the best yarns. They are (mostly) true stories of people and places told with careful observation, a good dollop of humour and a little nostalgia. He only performs his own original songs.