YOU, ME, EVERYBODY - Midnight Album Release
Aotearoa’s progressive bluegrass ensemble, You, Me, Everybody, are set to share their new album Midnight — a project that offers a fresh, local take on what bluegrass sounds like when filtered through New Zealand perspectives.
Midnight leans into the moment when one day becomes the next — a quiet turning point where change, uncertainty, and new beginnings sit side by side. Its songs capture that familiar feeling of being somewhere between who we’ve been and who we’re becoming. That sense of “in-between” also reflects the band’s place within Aotearoa’s musical landscape, where bluegrass arrives without a long local history but can be shaped in ways that feel natural to how we live and create here. “Our kiwi fans know bluegrass from traditional songs and contemporary artists such as Alison Krauss and Union Station, and Billy Strings. But they are more familiar with the other genres that Bluegrass sits alongside. We’re also collectively members of the New Zealand folk, country and jazz communities” says Rob. Midnight starts with bluegrass at its core but gently widens its scope, bringing in different genres with their rhythms, broader chord progressions, alongside influences drawn from the band’s own environment and lives lived in Aotearoa.
As an acoustic band they wanted to record in isolated spaces, while playing at the same time, which required a specialised studio. Their last two albums were self-produced and they wanted to bring in a Producer to lead the project and push their skills. They reached out to their ‘everybodies’ to fund the album through a Kickstarter campaign. Rewards included a guitar, crafted by Laurence, from a mahogany bookcase. They achieved 66% of their target in the first 24 hours. “Because there isn’t a lot of bluegrass being recorded in New Zealand, we knew we needed to look to the States for our Producer but we didn’t want to lose who we are either. We chose Nashville based musician, Rachel Baiman, as she makes acoustic music that utilises all of our instruments and has a great insight and appreciation for what we want for the sound. Plus she is married to a kiwi”, says Nat. The band brought her to Wellington in January 2026 to record in Armoury Studios with Troy Kelly. “When Rachel brought Sean Sullivan on board to mix the album, we were rapt; he’d worked with some of our heroes, including Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway” says Kim. The album was mastered by Bobbi Giel at Welcome to 1979. Cover art is by Andy Knopp, Graphic Design by Liam Jack Hall with photography by Ebony Lamb.
You, Me, Everybody began when brothers Laurence Frangos-Rhodes (vocals, guitar) and Sam Frangos-Rhodes (vocals, fiddle and mandolin), set out to explore a fresh, progressive take on bluegrass in Aotearoa. They have brought together a lineup of some of the country’s top acoustic players: Nat Torkington on five-string banjo, Rob Henderson on double bass, and Kim Bonnington on vocals and rhythm guitar.
Since forming, the band has quickly earned national recognition. They were finalists for Best NZ Folk Artist (2021), and their music has been featured in the Netflix series Sweet Tooth, helping introduce their sound to international audiences.
Midnight includes the four singles delivered in 2025: Heart of Stone, Misdirection, The Rest of Us and Busy Without Me along with the new single, Midnight, which is delivered to coincide with release with the album of the same name.