Tiny Ruins, which will headline The Cellar Door in Visalia on Saturday, July 12, is the project of Auckland, New Zealand musician and songwriter Hollie Fullbrook. Many critics liken her fingerstyle guitar approach and songwriting stance to the elegant Nick Drake.
Born in Bristol, England, in 1985, Fullbrook learned the cello at an early age and, at 10, moved with her family to New Zealand. Teaching herself the guitar through her teens, she traveled alone in the U.S. for a while before moving to Wellington, New Zealand, in 2005, where she studied and wrote music for theater productions. Sharing rough tape-recorded demos of her songs with music-minded friends, they garnered attention from beyond New Zealand’s shores. In 2010, she was asked to fly to Sydney, Australia, to support Scottish folksinger Alasdair Roberts, and was then duly signed by influential indie label Spunk Records.
“From time to time an album comes along that stops you in your tracks and demands you to listen,” read a review in The New Zealand Herald. “Tiny Ruins’ Some Were Meant for Sea is one such record.” The Australian press was also smitten, with the magazine Mess & Noise noting, “The songs sway and heave with warmth and approachability.”
The album saw a U.K. release after being championed by BBC 6 and BBC 2. It was hailed by the BBC World Service program “The Strand” as one of the top five albums of 2011.
Los Angeles-based singer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Børns, who will open the show, is the newest addition to an agency that in recent years has launched careers for Foster the People, Alt-J and many others. Garrett Børns is a songwriting performer you will be hearing about in the very near future. Catch him now, while you still can.
Tickets for the 8pm 21+ show are $7.