Legal Tender

Legal Tender began in Wellington (NZ) in 1973 as a duo, Ian Campbell & Steve Thompson. In those days it was commonplace to be resident in one venue for periods of time and so the Romney Arms became the playground for the first couple of years. In '75 they were joined for a period by Marty Jorgensen on drums, Chris Sereson on keyboards, Pete Hollis on bass and Jude Surridge, vocals.

They spent the next few years playing clubs and wine bars before going in separate directions. Ian played a few solo gigs and jammed with mates until 1998 when he teamed up with Moira Howard.

As a duo Ian & Moira played extensively throughout the country and were seen regularly at major festivals and venues until connecting with well known bluesman Bullfrog Rata in 2000. Starting out as a three piece doing mainly acoustic covers they were joined a year later by the late Earl Pollard on drums and Marshall Ngahere on bass and became much more electric and grunty. Over the next two years Marshall left and was replaced by Gary Lucre, Ross McDermott and then Willy Sieffert who sadly was killed in a motor accident in 2003.

After a year off in which Moira became the bass player, Colleen Trenwith from Hamilton County Bluegrass Band fame joined the line-up with her awesome fiddle, and the band's direction crystallised. The country/rock heart of the band became much more apparent and the lineup was joined by two other players, Graham Lovejoy on mandolin, banjo and guitar (also from the Hamilton County Bluegrass Band), and Aaron Andis, alternating with Bullfrog on lead guitar.

They are two-time Gold Guitar winners and well known for their legendary summer outdoor concerts held in Reikorangi. Check out their back catalogue and keep an eye our for a local appearance sometime!