Off the Shelf: Live music at Wellsford Library
admin
27/04/2026
Kiri Eriwata
Community Facilitator - Wellsford
Spotlight on Wellsford to celebrate NZ Music Month
Thanks to support from the Rodney Local Board, our Rodney Community team is bringing you heaps of free, live music throughout May 2026 in celebration of NZ Music Month.
Across the month, I’d love to invite you all to a series of free, live music events at Wellsford Library and Wellsford Community Centre. We’ve pulled together a really diverse mix — experienced musicians, local music groups, and some of our up-and-coming youth artists — and I’m genuinely excited about what’s on offer. For me, this series is all about celebrating the Wellsford music scene and giving our aspiring artists a real opportunity to share their talent with the community that’s helped shape them.
Our “Off the Shelf” performances will take place in the library itself, which I think will create something quite special. There’s something lovely about transforming that space into a hub of creativity and connection — it feels intimate, welcoming, and unlike your usual gig setting. Alongside that, we’re running a month-long series of “Intensive Band Sessions” with local music teacher Martin Worthington, which will wrap up with a free public showcase at Wellsford Community Centre. I can’t wait to see what these young musicians put together.
As a musician myself, organising this series has been a real labour of love. I’ve been working closely with local artists and groups to bring it all together, and the idea behind “Off the Shelf” really came from wanting to activate our library as a vibrant community space — somewhere that celebrates local talent and creates inclusive, accessible opportunities for people of all ages to experience live music in a relaxed setting.
What I’m hoping for, more than anything, is that these performances help strengthen our sense of community through shared cultural experiences. I’d love to see more people using the library as a place to gather, and I think there’s something really powerful about bringing different generations together through music. If you’ve never thought of the library as somewhere you’d catch a live gig, this is your invitation to come along and see it in a whole new light.
Looking forward to seeing you there.
— Kiri Eriwata, Community Facilitator, Wellsford and Surrounds
Highlights include:
Friday 8th May: Singing Workshop taster w Raw Harmony 3:30pm – 4:30pm @Wellsford Library
Group singing is a simple and enjoyable way to support your wellbeing. It can lift your mood, ease stress, boost your resilience and create a real sense of connection.
In this session we will sing easy, accessible songs with simple harmonies, learning by ‘call and response’, in a lighthearted exploration of how our individual voices blend together to create something richer as a group.
No experience or music skills are required – if you haven’t sung in a long time, or have never sung in a group setting before, you’re especially welcome. Come along and sing for fun. Be brave and try it out!
While this workshop is designed with adults in mind, older children/youth are welcome to join in if they’d like to participate.
Saturday 9th May: Andrew McLennan & the Kids – Songs from the Wellsford Community Garden. followed by Spellodies. 10:30am – 12pm @Wellsford Library
Songs from the Wellsford Community Garden lead us into the garden with songs they wrote about wetas and worms and all sorts!
Followed by Spellodies! Winners of the 2024 APRA award for Best song for Primary Age kids, Spellodies is a family band based in Tāmaki-Makaurau, NZ, consisting of Fen and Steph (from the “adult” band Lips) and their kids Freddy and Charlie. They regularly perform their high energy set packed with catchy songs and comedy sketches in a variety of genres including rock, folk, country, pop, funk and more. Their show works well for kids aged 4-9 years but suitable for younger kids, with laughs and audience participation for the whole family.
Check out their songs on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuC22GXJwls
There will be free sausages for lunch!
From April 14th: A+ Music Free Intensive Band Sessions
The A+ Music Band Session programme is an expansion on the youth band workshops Martin delivered in the summer school holidays using funding from the Rodney Youth Small Project Fund. They were such a hit, the Rodney Community team asked Martin to deliver them again but this time for all ages. Thanks to funding from the Rodney Local Board, these workshops started in the April School holidays and are being offered free to local aspiring musicians. The participants of these workshops are currently working towards performing live for the community at the A+ Music Showcase on Saturday 23rd May at Wellsford Community Centre.
Friday 22 May: DJ Lesson with DJ Damo – 3:30 – 4:30pm @Wellsford Library
DJ Damo is a Kaiwaka based DJ who plays a cross genre of musical styles, fusing them into one funky mix. He has over 10 years of DJ experience, was involved in New Zealand’s online radio scene hosting a show on Poorboy Radio and collaborated on shows for Mouthful Radio. He runs a mobile DJ business and has played events across Northland, Auckland and as far as Hokitika. He is currently studying a Graduate Diploma in Teaching and Learning at Massey University. In this workshop, DJ Damo will give you an introduction to beat matching, learning the timing of a 4×4 beat structure and mixing two tracks together. This workshop hopes to instill an interest in DJing to practice further and master the art of the mix.
Accessible opportunities for people of all ages to experience live music in a relaxed and engaging environment
Check out the full programme below
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