With lush harmonies, intricate arrangements, and beguiling melodies, the Bidibids explore what it means to play folk music in New Zealand. The Bidibids are Sarah August on banjo and guitar, Simon Carryer on cello-banjo, and Brendan Schenk on mandolin and guitar. The trio came together at the 2020 Wellington Folk Festival, where they were each supposed to be playing in different groups. Late night jam-sessions lured them away from their original lineups, and a new group was born, steeped in Americana and bluegrass, but inspired by the idea of creating an authentic home-grown folk sound. Since then, the Wellington-based band have become regulars at some of the region’s best venues for folk music, including the Mussel Inn, Moon, and the Wellington Bluegrass Society.
Driven by Sarah’s honest, intimate songwriting and Brendan’s blazing musicianship, the Bidibids balance soulful ballads that will tug your heart-strings with upbeat numbers which will get your toes tapping. Influenced by American bluegrass and folk bands like Watchhouse and Nickel Creek, they’re also inspired by local acts like The Eastern and Marlon Williams who are forging an authentic New Zealand folk tradition. Personal and heartfelt, eccentric and irreverent, always looking for that blend of the familiar and the new, that feeling of recognition and belonging but also reinterpretation and revelation that makes folk music so exciting.
Photo Credit: Rebecca McMillan Photography
Bidibids are:
Sarah August (banjo, guitar)
Simon Carryer (cello-banjo)
Brendan Schenk (mandolin, guitar)
