The Advocators

Based in rural Northland, New Zealand, we are The Advocators—an alternative country duo creating raw, gritty music that sits somewhere between bluegrass ballads and hostile gospel stomp rock. Comprised of longtime collaborators Leroy Brown (vocals, guitar, banjo) and Mark Bruce (guitar, melodica), we emerged from the small towns of Kaiwaka and Maungaturoto, crafting a sound described as trashy, sleazy, dirty and greasy... with plenty of twang. We first made waves with our critically acclaimed 2024 debut album, Songs From An Endless Night, which we recorded in a rural farm shed-studio. Now, we are launching into our next chapter with the official release process underway for our sophomore album, Beyond the Palisade. For this record, we have crafted a much more expansive sound, broadening our sonic horizon with the help of an incredible group of talented friends. We brought in our local music friends Dave Khan, Dan Stanhouse, Ben Michelsen, Austyn Mills, Hannah Jane, and Matt Watson from Whangarei and Auckland to contribute to the album, adding rich new layers to our music. Together, these new tracks navigate acceptance, contempt, moral ambiguity, and the complexities of human resilience, serving as an answer to the existential questions left unanswered by our debut. theadvocatorsmusic.com