History The Players The Uniform The Music The Instruments
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The new Kokatahi Band CD has arrived!!
The Band was established around 1910 in the valleys inland from Hokitika, although early records are scanty. Originally called the Kokatahi-Koiterangi Band, it was set up by locals, mostly farmers with some gold miners, to entertain on Sunday afternoons which was their only day off. Consistently playing from before WW1, the band is recognised throughout
And no, though we still get asked, there are no original members in the current lineup...!
As the photograph above shows, it's mainly a button accordion band, augmented by fiddles, banjos, bones, spoons, drums and that great bush band instrument the lagerphone. The lineup used to include the Saxolin, but since its owner Percy Crough passed away it's been in the Hokitika Museum. It's a skeletal violin with a diaphragm and a saxophone-like horn, also known and still made as a Strohviol, Stroh-violin or Phonofiddle
Not shown here is another distinctive instrument that makes frequent guest appearances, the musical saw. We used to feature, but presently don't, a Swanee whistle.
The Band has a widely-distributed membership, living in Hokitika and environs, Greymouth and up the Grey Valley, Ross, Kirwee, Rangiora, Christchurch, Ashburton, Winton and Invercargill.
Going into 2009 we have twenty-seven playing members, eight of them women, ranging in age from nineteen to eighty-six. The Kokatahi Band has been increasing its links with Shantytown, Greymouth's historic village, and can often be seen playing there.
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