About Sue Dunlop

Sue Dunlop has been performing as a professional musician on and off since 1976, and makes the undisputed claim to being NZ's first female professional bass guitarist.

Sue played for a number of years in various covers bands in Hawkes Bay and Wellington before launching her solo career in the late 80s. The first solo venture involved writing and performing a cabaret-style show (Better Than Normal) which introduced the much loved character 'Lezzie Presley', and delighted audiences around the country and in Sydney where it was included in the 1991 Sydney Lesbian Festival. An album of the show recorded live was a sell-out.

For over twelve years, Sue performed as a core member of the well loved women's comedy company Hen's Teeth which won the 1996 Meryl Yvonne Award for Best Women's Comedy at the Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards. Hen's Teeth toured extensively throughout New Zealand and to the Adelaide Fringe Festival.

Sue has also performed solo at various venues throughout the country, played bass for the 1994 national tour of Blood Brothers, and regularly plays bass for Sydney based blues musician and singer Jan Preston when she visits New Zealand.

Over the past 18 months Sue has appeared at Circa Theatre, Wellington and at a number of festivals throughout New Zealand in the sell-out comedy show The Truth About Love. The show, which includes Dame Kate Harcourt, Lorae Parry and Pinky Agnew as well as album producer Michael Nicholas Williams on piano, and features the song Old Lovers New Friends.

For the past year Sue has performed most Friday nights at the Welsh Dragon Bar in Courtenay Place introducing a new entertainment concept of music, madness and mayhem which combines strong performances of great songs (originals and popular covers) with good old Kiwi / Welsh sing-along plus classroom percussion and interesting squeaky toy solos. The result is a high energy fun night out - highly recommended by all who've been. ('Better than karaoke'!)

Sue has also made several appearances at the Acoustic Lounge run by John Mills in the Indigo Bar (Cuba St), and has appeared in a couple of recent variety concerts at the Wellington Town Hall - The Great Night Out (a fundraiser organised by Sue in 2003 to raise funds for children in Iraq following the American invasion of Iraq) and in a concert organised as part of the 2005 Janus Women's Convention.