AS part of Celtic duo Half Light\u2019s spring tour the pair of musicians will be heading to Ballarat later this month.<\/p>\n
Rennie Pearson and Bob McNeil will be performing at the Ballarat Trades Hall and sharing their blend of traditional folk music and original songs inspired by Scotland and Ireland.<\/p>\n
The duo takes their inspiration from a range of music styles and they transform old songs into fresh sounds.<\/p>\n
While they\u2019ve only been playing as Half Light a bit more than a year, Pearson and McNeil both have extensive music experience, touring individually and in groups.<\/p>\n
\u201cMe and Bob have known each other for a long time in the Wellington Celtic music scene,\u201d said Pearson.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs I was growing up learning Celtic music, I started going to the pub at around 14 and Bob was there so I got to know him.\u201d<\/p>\n
After working on music together, the pair decided to form a duo.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re both quite creative in that we don\u2019t just stick to the bones of the traditional stuff and we like writing our own music,\u201d Pearson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe found that as we were playing music together, we were getting really, really creative and coming up with these awesome tunes so we decided to form a duo.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe liked finding these hypnotic grooves and cool and dark kind of driving rhythms and melodies that put you not a bit of a trance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pearson said he hopes the audience can be transported to a special place during the performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope people get lost in the storytelling, humour and enchanting music and come out feeling uplifted and like they\u2019ve been transported to people far away,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt may also provide some connection to people with Celtic roots perhaps to their ancestors.\u201d<\/p>\n