BLAIR MORGAN

It's hard to believe it's been a year since I released Sunday River. What started as a collection of songs became a whole lot more: an album, vinyl and CDs, artwork, videos, two launch gigs, promotional campaigns and a series of live performances. And, as I've discovered, releasing an album independently involves rather more than just writing and recording the songs.

I first found Peter Case by accident, which still seems the right way to find him. It was the mid-1980s, and I was reading the album review section in the Christchurch Star, the Christchurch evening newspaper . The review was about R.E.M's Life's Rich Pageant , the follow up to Fables of the Reconstruction, an album that raarely left the turntable. For the second review following REM it was mentioned a great opening act for REM would be Peter Case.

August 2019. Justin Townes Earle, promoting what would be his last album The Saint of Lost Causes, stood alone on stage in Ōtautahi Christchurch, midway through a set that would barely stretch beyond an hour.

Just in time for major awards consideration (complete with (count them!) eight nominations for the 2025 Academy Awards).