About the Ruahine Rangers
The band formed in 2013, entirely by accident. All three members met through the Palmerston North Folk Music Club and had joined the Folk Club's performance band at different times. Josh and Rosemary started getting together to jam once a week and after getting some tunes worked out, they decided to try their hand at busking. The first time they played on the street they were invited to play at the Fielding Rural Day. Realising they needed something extra in their sound, they shanghaied Nikki into the group and put on a performance.
It was so much fun playing together as a group they decided the arrangement ought to be permanent.
ABOUT US
After beginning training as a classical flautist, Rosemary fell in with the wrong crowd and now plays the fiddle and mandolin for the Ruahine Rangers (though sadly she hasn’t yet worked how to play both at once!).
Josh was a guitar player before he was given a banjo by a far-sighted uncle and never looked back. As well as playing finger-picking-good banjo, he is the main vocal lead for the Ruahine Rangers.
Piano teacher by day, guitar player by night, Nikki also teaches guitar and ukulele. She provides the band’s guitar backbone and vocal harmonies, as well as some vocal lead.
Together, we are the Ruahine Rangers!
WHY "RUAHINE RANGERS"?
The Ruahine Ranges are part of a mountain range running down the middle of the North Island of New Zealand, forming one of the boundaries of the Manawatu region where we live and part of our landscape. They're a great place for tramping (non-kiwis might know this pastime as "hiking"), camping, hunting, and general outdoors-y goodness, and part of New Zealand's Forest Park network, a great place to get out in the wet and wild outdoors. "Ruahine" apparently means "wise woman" (sorry, Josh!). I don't know if we're wise, but we're learning!
But why name ourselves after them? Because it was great alliteration, a fun pun, and a name that managed to sound both kiwi and bluegrass at once. That was enough reason for us!