We Mavericks (Australia/NewZealand)
UK Tour 2025 -
July to early October
I had the pleasure and the privilege of attending We Mavericks show at the Beehive Folk Club in Harthill Village Hall (near Sheffield) in early October. It was the final show of this year’s UK tour and they played to a capacity crowd of around 100 people. It was my first opportunity to see a whole show, and my goodness what a show! I know it sounds bonkers to say it was the first time I’d seen their show because – well – I am their UK agent, but sometimes you have to take things on trust when you’re talking to a duo from halfway around the world, so when they approached me to book a tour for them, we did all the arrangements on email and skype, and I watched their Youtubery endlessly. They are great on Youtube, but even better live.
Before you read the rest, here's a short live set from Australia's National Folk festival
We Mavericks are a duo from Australia, Victoria Vigenser and Lindsay Martin. Vic plays driving guitar and takes most of the vocal leads. Lindsey plays mandolin and fiddle, sings mostly harmonies. The instruments are joyous. Vic’s driving guitar holds the rhythm while Lindsay’s fiddle and mandolin soar in and out, dazzling, sweet, or intricate, and always dbrilliantly played. I find it hard to believe that Lindsay only has five fingers on each hand because some of those notes trip by so fast you can hardly take them in, but it’s not show for show’s sake. It’s all very appropriate to the well-crafted arrangements.
The singing is utterly magnificent. Vic’s voice is strong and raunchy where it needs to be, and alternately sweet and clear where it needs to be. Lindsay’s voice is softer, but true – a perfect instrument for creating dynamic vocal blends. And dynamic is really the word for this duo. Their arrangements soar with full-throated abandon and then pull back with a restrained delicacy that lets the song shine through, all the time, keeping up the energy. And the songs matter. Songs about life, shaded from dark to light, all ways through the emotional spectrum, written individually or together. Thrown into the mix is the occasional traditional song, beautifully arranged in their own style.
They’ve completed their first UK tour, fourteen dates altogether, and audiences have loved them. Four people turned up to their last show in Harthill because they’d seen We Mavericks in York the night before and wanted more, more, more. They are already building up their fan base and mailing list here in the UK, and planning their next tour.
They’ll be available in July, August and September in 2025 for festivals dlubs, and venues. They’ll have a new album out by then, Heart of Silver, to go with their current album, Grief’s a Gardener. They sang Heart of Silver for us last night and if the title track is anything to go by, the whole album will be fantastic.
"The glorious harmonies and touching melodies of We Mavericks…Together they craft exquisite folk music, evoking spirits originating from Appalachia to Alba” - Ambient Light, New Zealand 2022,
“He has a familiar soft folk tenor. She has a strong ringing tone with muscle behind a clear crystalline voice… The violin cries for her and the harmony vocals are divine… We Mavericks are a serendipitous pairing…” - 13th Floor, New Zealand 2022
A certain trademark tightness and their gritty, evocative performances have seen them on a steep and fast rise to the big stages in both home countries, coupled witrh a welter of awards nominations.
- Spotlight Showcase Artist - Folk Alliance International 2022
- Nominated “Te Kaipuoro Taketake Toa | Best Folk Artist” 2022 Aotearoa (New Zealand) Music Awards
- Nominated “Best Contemporary Duo/Group/Ensemble” 2021 Australian Folk Music Awards
- Nominated again for Artist of the Year in the Australian Folk Music Awards, Duo/Group/Ensemble category 2024
Upcoming UK tour: July to September 2025.
Dates booking now...
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This is where they played in 2024
Sun 1 Sept
Bothy FC
The Bijou Cinema
Mon 2 Sept
The Green Note London
Tues 3 Sept
Dartford Folk Club
Wed 4 Sept
Spalding Folk Club
South Holland Cntr
Thu 5 Sept
Runnymede Folk
Tues 10 Sept
St Neots Folk Club
Wed 11 Sept
Carrington Triangle Folk, Nottingham
Thu 12 Sept
Bromsgrove Folk
Sat 14 Sept
Martello Promotions
Hungate Church, Beccles
Mon 23 Sept
Stirling Folk Club
Thu 26 Sept
Clydesdale Folk
Biggar
Wed 2 Oct
Willows Folk
Kirkham, Preston,
Fri 4th Oct
Beehive Folk,
Harthill Village Hall, Nr Sheffield