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Yahoo!Xtra caught up with the Black Seeds vocalist and guitarist Barnaby Weir as the eight-piece band plus their nine-piece support act, naturally split into a few vehicles, embarked on their latest national tour by jumping off a bridge.

Having just returned from a 27-gig tour of Europe and the US you'd think the last thing on the Black Seeds' minds was a national tour but playing live is what the Wellington based roots band love to do.

So much so that their latest album released last week is titled The Black Seeds Live Vol.1, a collection of 12 tracks from various live gigs stretching from 2003 to earlier this year.

Their latest national tour, 11 gigs across the country from Invercargill to Opononi, gives the band a chance to show their US support act John Brown's Body around the country, which wouldn't be proper without a bungy jump.

"We're really looking forward to getting around the country. The first gig in Invercargill had a great vibe and it was great to bring John Brown's Body down here for their first gig in New Zealand, as about as far south as you can get on the map," Barnaby Weir told Yahoo!Xtra.

Massachusetts based John Brown's Body are returning the favour after the Black Seeds supported their roots brethren on a tour of the US in September which stretched from New York to Los Angeles.

"The whole US tour was a highlight for me. We really enjoyed America. It was exciting, people were enthusiastic and we got to play to like-minded people in John Brown's Body audience."

Then it was off to Europe where the Black Seeds are making a name for themselves.

"We're building on an audience in Europe and it's really cool to go to a town in Germany that we haven't been before and play in front of a crowd. Places like Hamburg and Cologne are good to us and being to Europe a couple of times now we're building an audience, but there are always a few Kiwis in the crowd."

Live Vol.1 is the Black Seeds sixth album but first outside the studio with tracks featuring from various concerts around the globe, from Waihi to Paris. The album is  seven years in the making starting from a 2003 concert at Wellington venue the Parthenon to a performance at Homegrown, also in their hometown, earlier this year.

"We recorded when we could on various tours over the years. We've always wanted to do a live album and we felt this was the right time as we had heaps of material. We picked 12 tracks we liked the best of our first catchments of songs from 2003 to the start of 2009."

The question looms though, do they prefer making live albums or studio albums?

"We've focused a lot on live over the years and that has its merits and is really fun but I am a studio personality as well. I just love going into the studio but with the band we don't get the opportunity that often."

Hopefully for New Zealand music's sake they get an opportunity to head to the studio soon as their fans eagerly await a follow up to the 2008 critically acclaimed album Solid Ground.

But for now they can listen to their latest live offering or catch them in person as they venture around the country.

If you would like to win the Black Seeds latest album 'The Black Seeds Live Vol.1' enter Yahoo!Xtra's competition, including a ticket to either the Wellington or Auckland show. Enter now!

Tour dates:
Oct 28 - Saints and Sinners, Invercargill
Oct 29 - Memorial Hall, Queenstown
Oct 30 - Sammys, Dunedin
Oct 31 - The Bedford, Christchurch
Nov 1 - Phat Club, Nelson, Nelson
Nov 6 - Wellington Town Hall
Nov 7 - Woolstore 4, Napier
Nov 11 - The Commercial, Whakatane
Nov 12 - Altitude, Hamilton
Nov 13 - The Powerstation, Auckland
Nov 14 - The Opononi Hotel, Opononi