Tami Neilson

Friday 9th November

Tami Neilson, three-time winner of the New Zealand Tui Award for Best Country Album 2009, 2010 and 2012, was raised in Canada by parents with a closet full of sequined stage costumes and platform shoes.

She grew up in a house where amplifiers and guitar cases were just as much a part of the furniture as chairs and tables, and when most kids are still singing nursery rhymes in the bathtub, she was travelling across North America in a 34-foot motor home, performing professionally in her family band, The Neilsons.

Sharing the stage with the likes of Johnny Cash, Tami appeared regularly on television and radio, touring North America, promoting The Neilsons independent CD, releasing 2 top 40 singles on the Canadian music charts. Then Tami met a boy who caused her heart to flutter and her feet to move to the other side of the world. She arrived in New Zealand, releasing her debut solo album, Red Dirt Angel, which included the single Sister Cash, a duet with Joanne Cash.

Her second release, The Kitchen Table Sessions won Best Country Album in 2010, making her the first person to win the award two years in a row. The first single, Cry Myself to Sleep, was also nominated for APRA Best Country Song.

Hot on the heels of being presented Best Female Country Artist at the 2010 New Zealand Country Music Awards, Tami went on to win the 2012 Best Country Music Album award with Volume 2 of The Kitchen Table Sessions.

Buzzing with raw energy and talent, her music is a hybrid of acoustic torch and stripped-bare country blues. From haunting ballads of heartbreak and irony to foot-stomping, hand-clapping, harmony-infused numbers, Tami’s live performance is one to be remembered.

Alarmingly good … out-writes and out-sings most other country acts these days.

Graham Reid, Elsewhere

Neilsen sings her heart out, recalling a cross between Roy Orbison and Patsy Cline.

Grant Smithies, Sunday Magazine

Read more

Read more about Tami here.

Support act:

The Self-Righteous Brothers

The Self-Righteous Brothers are moonlighting members of the Bay’s well-known blues & roots band Kokomo. They describe their sound as comfort food for the ears. Offering an eclectic mix of blues, folk, country, jazz, Americana and anything else that takes their fancy, their music ranges from Bessie Smith to Bob Dylan with a few of their own songs thrown in.

Though they are shy folk who rarely venture far from home,
The Self-Righteous Brothers have performed at various arts festivals and other high-falutin’ events around New Zealand.

In September of this year they released their second album, Social Fretwork.

The Self Righteous Brothers feature Derek Jacombs (vocals/acoustic guitar) and Nigel Masters (vocals/upright bass).

Read more

Read more about The Self-Righteous Brothers here.

Fridge

You can download a limited-edition poster to brighten up
your boring fridge (800kb pdf).

Instructions: affix to the outside of your refrigerator.