Armed with his trusty guitar Milly, Louis Gradwell is a 24 year-old singer-songwriter based in Te-Whanganui-a-Tara. From gentle to ferocious, introspective to flamboyant, the songs Louis sings are sure to pluck your heartstrings in one way or another. When Louis isn’t playing in the six-piece garden rock band Day Moon, his music takes on a more raw, vulnerable light, while still capturing every bit of the storytelling, hook-driven goodness that underpins the band’s music. Louis writes from experience. His own life and the lives of the many people dear to him have inspired him to pen dozens of tunes over the years, taking on a variety of different moods and energies akin to the ever-changing circumstances of one’s life. Wellington is a beautiful city in which he has spent much of his life – his songs capture this with themes such as op-shopping and sustainability, creative expression, self-realization, and identity – just some of what he discovered while living here. A recent winner of the Joan Prior Young Performers award, Louis looks to the future with the music he writes for Day Moon, versions of which he will be playing at the Newtown Festival.
