TAMI NEILSON at the Burdock (1184 Bloor West), Thursday (February 4), 7 pm, $15-$20 and the Dakota Tavern (249 Ossington), Friday (February 5), 7 pm. Sold out.
After years on the road playing music with her siblings and parents in the Neilson Family band and working on her own career in Canada, Toronto’s Tami Neilson moved to New Zealand to be with her now husband after a four-year long-distance relationship, “which was lots of fun,” she laughs, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
“You look back on some things and go, ‘How did I ever actually survive that?’ Hard work,” she says over the phone from across the globe.
Hard work is also what got Neilson her following. After settling into her new surroundings, she realized that New Zealand’s idea of country music – Kenny Rogers’s The Gambler and pop country, mainly, she says – is nothing like her own down-home rockabilly swagger, which you could compare to Patsy Cline and Wanda Jackson.
“When people think of country music in New Zealand, they think of singing competitions and pink cowboy hats and rhinestones, and it’s very much something that’s made fun of.
“So I was like, ‘What have I done?! I’ve come to this bizarre twilight zone of country music,'” she laughs.
Realizing that a couple of upcoming NZ concerts – Old Crow Medicine Show and Lucinda Williams – might bring out kindred musical spirits, Neilson printed promotional postcards to point people in her direction. It worked, and eventually led to her latest album, Dynamite.
Getting it done, though, was another uphill battle. Weeks before hitting the studio, Neilson found out she was pregnant with her second child. She had five days to record the album and shoot two videos, with a toddler underfoot and herself “sick as a dog.” She powered through, recording each song live in an attempt to capture some of that Sun Records energy.
Hard work won out again. Dynamite is filled with warm, gorgeous twang and classic country sounds, with Neilson’s big, powerful voice at the forefront.
Even though balmy New Zealand has treated her right and become her home, Neilson misses Canada (especially, she says, poutine).
“I think you always miss where you’re from. Obviously your family is your family no matter where they are, and that’s kind of the magnet that pulls you back.
“There are certain times of year that are the hardest. Having a summertime Christmas always feels bizarre. Even after 10 years, putting up my tree and sweating and drinking lemonade feels so wrong.”
music@nowtoronto.com | @MattGeeWilliams
