Folsom prison the johnny possum band
The Johnny Possum Band (formerly known as Johnny Possums Good Time Hootin Band) is a New Zealand band playing a style of music heavily influenced by Bluegrass, Old Time, Americana, Folk and alt country. They play banjo, guitar, mandolin, fiddle and double bass. Of note is that at different times every member of the band takes the role of lead vocalist and they display traditional tight 3 part vocal harmonies. The band was formed in Christchurch in 2005 and originally featured a line-up of 6 members. Sean Whitaker on Banjo, Bryan Peters on Mandolin, Vicki Johnson on Fiddle, Keith Taylor on Guitar, Ieuan Attewell on Bass and Justin Ryan on Harmonica. By late 2006 the line up had changed with Justin and Ieuan leaving the band to pursue other interests and Jonathan Rosanowski joining on Double Bass. Vicki Johnson left the band in early 2010 and was replaced by Kat Lambarth.
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The band released their first CD, 'Tickets', in November 2006 and it was one of three finalists for the New Zealand Country Music Awards for Best Album in 2007. Their first original single, 'Bluegrass Saved the Earth' was one of the three finalists for the APRA Country Music Single of the Year in the same year. The band played that year at the 2007 Gold Guitar awards which host the New Zealand Country music awards annually. The album was largely influenced by bluegrass and featured many traditional bluegrass tunes.
Their 2nd CD, released in mid-2008, entitled 'Twister', saw the band display their own song writing talents to a greater degree with most of the songs on this album being original works. The sound changed from strictly Bluegrass to include strong elements of folk, old time, Americana, Celtic and rockabilly. In July 2009 they released their 3rd CD of 15 tracks and a live DVD with 27 tracks recorded at the Harbour Light Theatre in Lyttelton, New Zealand. The tracks are a mix of old favourites and new band material that was previously unrecorded. The band also took the opportunity to shorten the official band name to just The Johnny Possum Band.
The band released a greatest hits compilation exclusively for digital distribution in 2009. This compilation, "High Lights 2005 - 2009" features songs from all three CDs released 2005 - 2009.
For their 4th CD release the band brought in Rob Mayes of Avalanche Audio as producer to help redefine the sound. This CD was due for release October 2011.
They have played extensively throughout New Zealand and undertaken mini tours to the USA in 2007 (Illinois, Iowa and Indiana) and 2008 (North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Tennessee) where the band has built up a strong fan base. The band have been credited with reviving this particular genre of Americana music in New Zealand with their regular performances and daily inclusion on the New Zealand country music radio station network (TLC Radio) play list.