Tami Neilson, the queen of Kiwi country, over for Take Root Festival

Tami Neilson is laden with every music award her adopted homeland New Zealand can muster, but the queen of Kiwi country deserves a wider audience. Her fifth album - Kingmaker - helped locate it, boasting a duet with Willie Nelson on Beyond the Stars, a waltz full of tumbling guitars and sweeping strings with Neilson soaring effortlessly above. Strong-voiced 50s divas such as Patsy Cline – of whom Willie is reminded – remain a central strand of Neilson’s work and she handles a potentially saccharine number with brio, its accompanying video exhibiting Neilson’s impressive way with gothic frockery.

In “Baby, You’re a Gun”, the latest single from Country soul singer-songwriter Tami Neilson, she explores society’s underestimation of strong women and the roles they are expected to play. The accompanying video uses strong symbology to heighten that feel. Neilson, dressed in white with a striking majestic headdress reminiscent of a mantilla, appears omnipotent and regal as she poses alongside horses.

This weekend Tami Neilson is over for one European show at Take Root Festival:
04/11: Groningen, NL - Take Root