Luthiers Corner on the Deck at Tokomaru

Sun, 15 Feb, 2026 at 04:00 am UTC+13:00

200 Tokomaru East Road | Palmerston North

Bent Horseshoe Cafe
Publisher/HostBent Horseshoe Cafe
Luthiers Corner on the Deck at Tokomaru
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Bent Horseshoe Presents Luthiers Corner.
Sunday the 15th of February at 2pm on our deck at home..$20 at the door..
This will be the first time we have tried a double header but we are using 2 different venues.
Bookings are essential for this show and besides the $20 a plate is appreciated to go towards a shared afternoon tea.
I met Peter Madill a few years ago now and it wasn't long before we discovered that we had very much the same taste in music.
I remember some of our discussions and discovering that Peter had met such people as Guy Clarke and Townes Van Zandt.
I have watched him working in his workshop and was astounded at the patience and perfectionism he displays.
Peters guitars are played by some of the biggest names on the NZ folk and country scene
.
Jack was about the second musician to play at the original Cafe on a Lovely Sunday afternoon.
A few years ago these 2 met and now play the music we all love.
They will be playing instruments they made themselves which sound amazing.
It was the early 70s and two young men more than ten thousand kilometres apart were being influenced by both the folk music and the associated musical instruments that became so popular at the time. They are, pictured left to right: Peter Madill and Jack MacKenzie, who became very involved in both the music and the construction and repair of instruments that were used. As it turned out, their respective universes were not only parallel, but converging.
Cut to the 2019 Wellington Folk Festival, where Peter and Jack first met, became aware of each other’s music and the potential that existed between them. Both had committed to displaying their luthiery work at the Festival. However both were also taking part in the Festival as performers, Peter with the Madillionaires and Jack with the Downunderdogs.
Following this, a relationship between them developed through their guitar building. Peter, being the more established and experienced of the two, was kind and generous and began helping Jack develop his skills. Sticky problems were solved through collaboration and Peter’s formal woodworking skills were shared with each visit.
But a relationship of respect and admiration developed along with the guitar building side of things, and both men had an interest in each other’s music. As a mutual agreement, they decided to try a short stage performance at the last Mid-Winter Holler, which took place in late February 2023. Their music was very well received. As a result of encouragement and suggestion, an experimental concert at the Wellington Bluegrass Society then resulted.
Although both men have different approaches to the music, the common thread of the folk music tradition allows an intuitive understanding of the music. Because of this, adaptation to each other’s repertoires followed naturally. This music is underpinned by vast repertoires, harmony vocals, solid flat picking and the possibility of an appearance of the pedal steel guitar that Jack has been teaching himself to play. It will be an interesting and rewarding evening, steeped in a combined rich history of decades of involvement in this art, complete with unique stories and a perspective born of the pursuit of both luthiery and music.

www.madillguitars.co.nz
www.simianridge.co.nz
www.audioculture.co.nz/articles/peter-madill-guitar-maker
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Bent Horseshoe
200 Tokomaru East RD
Palmerston North, Mwt 4474
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays

200 Tokomaru East Road, 200 Tokomaru East Rd, Tokomaru, Palmerston North 4474, New Zealand, Palmerston North

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