YOU probably know Auckland-based band The DeSotos better than you realise –their songs were the themes for TVNZ series’ North and South, hosted by Marcus Lush, and many more of their tracks were littered throughout the programmes. Those of a certain generation will also remember Wells Fargo and The Hi Hats – of which DeSotos’ singer and guitarist Paul Gurney, and fellow songwriter and bassist Stuart McIntyre were both part, in Wellington, in the 80s and 90s.
The DeSotos’ first played together in 2004, and their bluesy, Americana sound has led to pockets of enthusiastic fans from all over the world.
“There’s a niche market for Americana music in [European] countries, especially places like Belgium and the Netherlands.”
New Zealanders are enjoying it too.
“People seem to really groove on the music. It’s not hard-hitting, like, say, Shihad. It’s more behind the beat.”
Their new album, released in May, is called Your Highway For Tonight – named for advertising of the Wahine inter-island ferry. The song In the Harbour references the Wahine disaster of April 10, 1968, which Gurney witnessed as a nine-year-old child.
“I was on Seatoun Beach as the boat rolled on its side and foundered. I remember the drive down being very scary with roofing iron flying around us ... Even by Wellington standards it was extremely windy. A number of lifeboats came into the beach that morning and the water was incredibly turbulent, with no sand actually in sight - the waves were breaking up on the road… And the Wahine was clearly visible, listing heavily not that far from the beach, ” says Gurney.
A love of the Louisiana region also influences the sound. The band is named for the American Chrysler Corp car that went out of production in 1961, but there’s a strange Mississippi connection, too.
“Chrysler chose the name from the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto, who was credited with discovering the Mississippi delta. They used a sculpture of his head as the emblem on the car bonnet,” explains Gurney.
Both ex-Wellingtonians, Gurney and McIntyre look forward to playing here for the first time in more than a year, and promise a great homecoming show.
The DeSotos, San Francisco Bath House, June 9.