8pm, Sunday 22 June

The Back Room

Wellington Arts Centre

61 Abel Smith St

Think cranking rock 'n' roll riffs, moving into Afro-Cuban grooves, to funky beats straight out of the late James Brown's personal repertoire. From soul comes the wailing moaning blues, over to sweet Appalachian ditties, and then down to wild tunes from the dark folds of Eastern Europe. Forbidden Joe aren't your average salty old sea dogs, and they don't do weddings. They sing, harmonise, shape and deliver their music with vibrant energy. All this, from just a concertina, 'cello, and banjo. And voices.

8pm, Sunday 25 May
The Back Room
Wellington Arts Centre
61 Abel Smith St

Charlotte Yates is a recording artist based in Wellington, New Zealand where she has released five albums of her own material on Jayrem Records. (Latest release Beggar's Choice out May 2008) Her first album Queen Charlotte Sounds was released in 1991. The single Red Letter was an APRA Silver Scroll finalist.

Melbourne-based from 1993 to 1996, Charlotte directed the 1993 and 1994 Melbourne Fringe Arts Festivals. She studied Contemporary Music Technology and Composition at La Trobe University, Melbourne during 1995. Recorded in Sydney, Charlotte's second album The Desire and the Contempt won the Singer-Songwriter category at the 1997 Wellington Music Awards.