Tamara Neilson, known professionally as Tami Neilson, is a Canadian-born New Zealand country & soul singer/songwriter. She is the winner of multiple awards, including the 2014 APRA Silver Scroll Awards and Best Country Song Award; she is also the winner of the Best Country Album at the

New Zealand Music Awards The Aotearoa Music Awards (previously called the New Zealand Music Awards), conferred annually by Recorded Music NZ, honour outstanding artistic and technical achievements in the recording industry. The awards are among the most significant that ...

in 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2015, and Best Female Artist at the New Zealand Country Music Awards in 2010, 2011 & 2014.

Biography

She grew up as a member of The Neilsons, performing with her parents and two brothers across North America, and continues to co-write much of her work with brother Joshua "Jay" Neilson, who shared her Silver Scroll win with her as well as producing her first three albums: ''Red Dirt Angel'' (2008), ''The Kitchen Table Sessions, Vol. 1'' (2009) and ''The Kitchen Table Sessions, Vol. II'' (2011). They also worked together on scoring the New Zealand TV series ''

The Brokenwood Mysteries ''The Brokenwood Mysteries'' is a New Zealand television detective drama series that premiered on Prime in 2014. Each of the first six series comprises four distinct episodes. Series 7 began streaming on 29 March 2021 on Acorn TV, comprises six ...

'' for its second season in2015, having previously contributed many songs to the first season's soundtrack. Her album ''Don't Be Afraid'' (2015) debuted at No. 3 on the New Zealand Music Charts, and her previous release ''Dynamite!'' (2014) was listed in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' as one of the top ten country albums of the year for 2014. In 2020, her song “Hey, Bus Driver”, from the album ''Chickaboom'', won APRA’s Best Country Song Award. In 2017, Neilson also appeared as a subject of the documentary ''

Prime A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...

Rocks: The New Sound of Country'' in New Zealand, alongside Marlon Williams,

Delaney Davidson Delaney Davidson (born 15 December 1972) is a singer-songwriter from Lyttelton, New Zealand. He is known for his musical production, guitar work, and being a multi-instrumentalist. Besides his music, Davidson is also involved in graphics, vis ...

, and Barry Saunders from

The Warratahs The Warratahs are a band from Wellington, New Zealand. Band members Early line-ups * Barry Saunders (vocals/guitar) * Wayne Mason (keyboards/vocals) * Nik Brown (fiddle) * John Donahue (bass) * Marty Jorgensen (drums) * Clinton Brown ( ...

. In November 2020 she was named one of the best dressed women on David Hartnell MNZM's Best Dressed List. Tami's 2022 album, '' Kingmaker'' included the single "Beyond the Stars", a duet with country music legend

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album '' Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of '' Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (1 ...

, which was released to considerable acclaim after being debuted on stage in a live performance with him, at his Luck Reunion concert in March that year. The album went on to debut at #1 on the New Zealand charts in July, which was followed by a sold-out concert with the

Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra (APO) is a symphony orchestra based in Auckland, New Zealand. Its principal concert venue is the Auckland Town Hall. The APO is the accompanying ensemble for performances by NZ Opera and the Royal New Zeal ...

at the Aotea Centre, and a national tour with Chamber Music New Zealand, during which she performed 'Beyond The Stars' with

Bret McKenzie Bret Peter Tarrant McKenzie (born 29 June 1976) is a New Zealand musician, comedian, music supervisor, and actor. He is best known as one half of musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords along with Jemaine Clement. In the 2000s, the duo's c ...

in Wellington. She also performed at

Mariposa Folk Festival Mariposa Folk Festival is a Canadian music festival founded in 1961 in Orillia, Ontario. It was held in Orillia for three years before being banned because of disturbances by festival-goers. After being held in various places in Ontario for a f ...

in Canada and

Tønder Festival Tønder Festival is an annual folk music festival in Tønder, Denmark. It is held on the last weekend of August. It was founded in 1974. The first festival took place in 1975. The festival is one of the most prominent festivals for traditional an ...

in Denmark that year. 'Beyond The Stars' was nominated for the

APRA Awards (New Zealand) The APRA Music Awards are several annual and two-yearly award ceremonies run in New Zealand by Australasian Performing Right Association to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members. APRA hold the annual Silver ...

Silver Scroll Award on Sept 1 2022. Tami’s songs have also appeared on '' Wanted'', '' Nashville'', and ''

The Sounds The Sounds are a Swedish indie rock band. Formed in Helsingborg in 1998, the group's musical style has been compared to new wave acts such as Blondie, The Cars, the Epoxies and Missing Persons. Their debut album, '' Living in America'', was r ...

''. In 2022, Tami herself appeared on ''

'' performing "Ten Tonne Truck" on the episode "Good as Gold".

Personal life

Born in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, Canada, Neilson relocated to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in 2007 where she now resides. She is married to Grant Tetzlaff, a New Zealand Police inspector she first met in 2001. They have two children. Neilson has

Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

ancestry.

Discography

Studio albums

Collaborative albums

Live albums

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Promotional singles

Other charted songs

APRA Awards (New Zealand)

The

are presented annually by Australasian Performing Right Association to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members. The APRA Silver Scroll Award is awarded purely on the basis of songwriting.

New Zealand/Aotearoa Music Awards

The

are presented annually by Recorded Music NZ recognising outstanding artistic and technical achievements in the recording field. Tami has been nominated multiple times for a number of awards, and won many of them.

Taite Music Prize

The

Taite Music Prize The Taite Music Prize is an annual New Zealand music award event. It features the same-named prize awarded for the best album from New Zealand. The prize is named after respected New Zealand music journalist and broadcaster Dylan Taite, who die ...

is an annual New Zealand music award for the best album from New Zealand. Tami Neilson has been nominated three times.

References

External links

Tami Neilson – Official Home Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neilson, Tami 21st-century Canadian women singers New Zealand women singer-songwriters 21st-century New Zealand women singers Canadian soul singers New Zealand country singers 1977 births Living people Canadian country singer-songwriters Māori-language singers Ojibwe people Canadian women country singers