Golden Bay flautist enthralled by the driving Celtic rhythms

Rennie Pearson’s parents had an extensive CD collection, but there was one disc in particular among the eclectic mix that captured the imagination of the Golden Bay local.

Rennie still remembers the feeling he got as a child when the music of Canadian flautist Chris Norman washed over him. The wooden flute entranced and calmed him, even as a very young boy.

When he was seven-year-old, he was taken to see the touring performer and composer in concert.

“I was just absolutely transported away,” Rennie remembers. “It really made such a massive impact.”

The very next day, he decided that he wanted to learn the wooden flute so that he too could play the traditional Celtic music that resonated so deeply.

The now-29-year-old says that the driving rhythms still lift his heart. He explains that the style of music spread throughout the world as the Celtic people travelled, and he is delighted to be “literally on the opposite side of the world, keeping these traditions alive”.

Although he is currently residing in Melbourne where there is “so much opportunity for music”, Rennie’s family have lived in Golden Bay for about seven years.  The family originally hails from Wellington, but they have a long-standing connection with the bay, as Rennie’s family holidayed on a bush block in the Kahurangi through his youth.

“I just feel very connected to the community and the land there,” he explains. “When I think about going home, I think about Golden Bay.”

Although he has visited Ireland several times, he plans to move there next year, to “go tap in and live there for a little while and just fully immerse myself”.

“I think it’s very important, when playing traditional music, to go to the source.”

Before his big move, Rennie’s friends and family in the Top of the South will be able to see him in concert in several incarnations. First on the itinerary is Celtic Illusions, an Irish dance and illusion show that has performed worldwide.  Rennie is one of the musicians in the show, which will be held at Nelson’s Theatre Royal on Sunday, 17 November at 7pm, with a 4pm show already sold out.

Next is a duo with Golden Bay’s Colm McEnaney, where the pair perform as Forgotten Atlas on Wednesday, 18 December, at The Mussel Inn. Rennie predicts the usual “big dance party”, saying that their gigs there always go off.

Rennie says he likes to be involved in different musical collaborations for the creative variety.

Another of these collaborations is Half Light, described as delivering “driving, hypnotic Celtic music from two of New Zealand’s top players”. Rennie and lauded guitarist Bob McNeill will begin the South Island leg of their tour at the Ruby Bay Store on Monday, 6 January, with a concert the following day in the Murchison Theatre.

Ticketing information is available here.