Unlikely collection of musicians

Christchurch collective Duchess Swift members (from left) lead guitar-backing vocals Billy Mills, lead vocalist-acoustic guitarist Kerry Coulshed, keyboard player Alison Kingdon, bass player Jimmy Allen and drummer Craig Edwards will play in Queenstown on Saturday night. Photo supplied.

The musicians of Christchurch band Duchess Swift say it is "an honour" to play at Dux de Lux, Queenstown, tomorrow, as they miss playing in its quake-damaged sister venue.

The genre-fusing five-piece played originals and covers in the Garden City's jazz and blues bars for the first few months together in 2010.

Since producing their debut EP and becoming semi-finalists in the 2010 RDU and Dux de Lux round-up competition in Christchurch, band members have been searching for venues in the aftermath of the Canterbury quakes.

Lead vocalist Kerry Coulshed this week said band members never knew quite what to expect from their gigs, and audience responses varied.

"Some are happy to sit back and be captured by the anecdotes intertwined between songs, and other times, by the end of the night, the whole place is up moving and groovin' on the dance floor.

"We start off mellow and soulful with a hint of jazz and build it up with some pop-infused blues and general fusion of genres."

Duchess Swift has been hailed as a young "tight, swanky collection of musicians", fronted by Coulshed's "fluid, unique vocals", who together craft good, commercial pop-rock with a jazz leaning.

Their process was a creative experiment, "a project of evolving design, an unlikely collection of people making music", she said.