Taranaki Singer Songwriters

Wendy Richards from Volunteering New Plymouth

What is this ? Where do they perform?
They are a passionate community of songwriters, musicians, audience members and arts supporters.
They are all about the vibrant flow of original music throughout Taranaki.

Their mission is to develop and promote original music in Taranaki for the wellbeing of all.
Their Trust is on a mission to keep developing the original music scene in Taranaki into the future. They were formed in July 2023 and became a registered charity in January 2024.
The Trust grew out of the success of their founding event Singer Songwriters New Plymouth which began as an open-mic night in 2006 at a bar in New Plymouth. This event is still going strong nearly two decades later. It is a monthly highlight of the Taranaki entertainment calendar and a testament to the passion of local musicians, audiences, and organisers who have kept it going so long. They think it’s the longest running songwriter event in the country.
The Trust is working behind the scenes to make more performance opportunities for local singer songwriters, provide education and development and build opportunities for original music in the local arts and entertainment scene.
They are grateful to the foundation event partners New Plymouth Little Theatre, Manella Productions and Swamp Shack Studios and the many wonderful sponsors who support the Trust’s work keep to live, original Taranaki-made music flowing into world.

During 2024 they help OPEN MIC'S IN TARANAKI in the following places
Every Wednesday - Open Mic Originals at Eight Ball Pool & Darts New Plymouth
Every Thursday - Open Mic at Mike's Brewery Bistro New Plymouth
Sunday Session During Summer Time at Paris Plage New Plymouth
Revive the Live Open Mic Hawera at Hot Fridays on Sunday 4pm till late
Opunake Players Inc hosted Taranaki Singer Songwriters twice in 2024 and looking to continue in 2025
In November they performed “Mountain Roots” as part of the Spiegel Fest 2024
Also, in December they were at Centre City New Plymouth for the Christmas Special
While checking out their website I learnt that they have the following impressive statistics
• 37 Venues around Taranaki in 2024
• 50+ Hands on Crewing experiences in 2024
• 96% original Music on Stage
• 442 Performances on Stage
• 446 Original Songs played in 2024
• 2,165+ Audience Members in 2024
• 3,500 + Social Media Followers

Taranaki Singer Songwriters are going from strength to strength and so if this interests you there are several ways to learn more; - listen to Access Radio Taranaki on Sunday 12th, 2025 at 2pm and you will hear Andre & Ken talk about what Taranaki Singer Songwriters is all about and the support they and others offer. You can also find the recorded session of Volly Voices on Spotify and Apple Podcast - to find these go the either Access Radio Taranaki website where these recordings can be found under Community or to Volunteering New Plymouth website and look under Volunteers and Volly Calls. Or
Who can you contact? If you are curious to learn more about what is involved and / or how you can get involved then contact Wendy or Marie at Volunteering New Plymouth on (06) 758 8986 , email admin@vnp.nz or phone /text 022 571 4228 to take the next step. Currently they are on holiday – however they will happily tell you more when they return on January 20th, 2025