The Return of Fly My Pretties

Fly My Pretties
Fly My Pretties on their Homeland Tour in 2013
Background information
Origin	Wellington, New Zealand
Genres	Folk Rock / Acoustic / Roots
Years active	2004–present
Labels	Loop
Associated acts	Fat Freddy's Drop, The Black Seeds, The Phoenix Foundation, TrinityRoots, Hollie Smith Kora
Website	flymypretties.com

Fly My Pretties is a collaboration of musicians originally from Wellington, New Zealand who are known for coming together to record live albums, in various locations in New Zealand. The different musical backgrounds of the members make for an eclectic mix of songs on their releases. Fly My Pretties was the brainchild of Barnaby Weir, front man of the Black Seeds and Mikee Tucker of Loop Recordings Aot(ear)oa. The objective: To meet, exchange ideas, and then perform and record the results in front of a live audience.

Founded in Wellington in 2004, the Fly My Pretties cast includes musicians from the Black Seeds, Fat Freddy's Drop, The Phoenix Foundation, Cairo Knife Fight and Paseload to achieve a unique blend of musical styles. The group is not a band as such, rather a collection of contemporary musicians who come together to collaborate on songs written by different members of the band. The first album featured songs written by Weir, Age Pryor and Samuel Flynn Scott.

Fly My Pretties performed their first season at Wellington’s Bats Theatre over five nights. Their first album 'Fly My Pretties Live at Bats' achieved platinum-status and was released internationally in the UK. The album received six nominations (Best Pop Release, Best Album, Best Producer, Best Cover Art, Best Female Vocalist, Best DVD) and won Best Pop Release at the 2005 bNet New Zealand Music Awards.

In 2006, Fly My Pretties performed, recorded and then released a second album, 'The Return of... Fly My Pretties' which focused on the state of contemporary Aotearoa New Zealand. The 2006 shows sold-out nationwide and the second album reached platinum-status. 'The Return of... Fly My Pretties' won Best Aotearoa, Roots album at the 2007 New Zealand Music Awards.

Fly My Pretties toured and recorded a new album in 2009 titled 'Fly My Pretties - A Story'. The show was a conceptual extension of the previous two Fly My Pretties outings, expressed via a narrative that connects music, illustration, animation, charity and a message of change into one audiovisual experience. The Fly My Pretties story attempts to entertain and reflect on innocence, and the solving of complex problems which might enable a sustainable future. With this in mind, the cast put together their songs in just eight rehearsals before taking the show on the road. The album reached #1 on the top 40 RIANZ album charts. The third album was nominated for Best Aotearoa, Roots Album at the 2010 Vodafone new Zealand Music Awards.