Originally formed on the Kapiti Coast back in 2005 The Cattlestops focussed on a country-rock and Western swing repertoire consisting mostly of original songs penned independently by bass player James Cameron and guitarist Andrew London. They quickly produced two albums, the second, ‘Back to Rosetta Road’, contributing to the soundtrack of locally-shot feature film ‘Second Hand Wedding’ and nominated as a finalist for Country Album of the Year. The band played music festivals around New Zealand and was invited to the Norfolk Island Country Festival in 2007.

The Cattlestops went into recess until 2015, when James and Andrew began writing and recording again with a line-up of musicians they had been collaborating loosely with for some time. This included Wayne Mason (keys), Ross McDermott (steel guitar), Lance Philip (drums) and guitarist Nick Granville.

The new album ‘Dancing in the Rain’ shows both songwriters in pensive and occasionally nostalgic mood, with genres ranging from rural acoustic country and J.J. Cale-style ’swamp’ grooves to driving blues and country rock reminiscent of B.B King and the Allman Brothers.

The lineup for the Wellington Jazz Club on 19th July consists of James Cameron (bass) Andrew London (guitar) with Wayne Mason (keys) and Lance Philip (drums). The repertoire will be heavily weighted towards the western swing genre, which draws heavily on swing, blues and jazz standards of the 30s and 40s.