EMPOWERING NEW SINGLE FROM THE FORTHCOMING, EAGERLY AWAITED, FIFTH STUDIO ALBUM - KINGMAKER Out FRIDAY, JULY 15
“Baby, You’re A Gun” marks the 2nd single from Neilson’s forthcoming fifth studio album, KINGMAKER, out Friday, July 15.
Opening with sweeping strings arranged by Victoria Kelly, and a lonesome whistle that conjures the same cinematic flair of old Hollywood Westerns, “Baby, You’re a Gun” is a song about the underestimation of women and the roles society expects them to play. Tami says she was inspired while re-reading Dolly Parton’s autobiography, where she states, “Many an old boy has found out too late that I look like a woman, but think like a man. It is a great mistake to assume that because I look soft, I do business that way.”
KINGMAKER also sees Neilson joining forces with the legendary Willie Nelson for the timeless country duet, “Beyond The Stars,” An official music video – directed by Neilson’s brother Todd and featuring exclusive footage filmed earlier this year at Austin, TX’s SXSW Music Festival and Nelson’s world famous Luck Reunion in Luck, TX – is streaming now via YouTube HERE.
“Beyond The Stars” – which immediately hit the Official NZ Music Chart’s “Top 40 Hot Singles” and “Top 20 NZ Hot Singles” – was further met by critical applause from media outlets around the world:
“Tami Neilson and Willie Nelson meditate on heavy losses in their new duet…‘Beyond the Stars’ is a mournful ballad in 3/4 time and it takes a close look at the grief brought on by a loved one’s death. Neilson wrote the song after the 2015 loss of her father and, while Nelson acts as her father’s voice in his verse, it takes on an extra poignancy coming so soon after the death of his sister and bandmate Bobbie Nelson.” – ROLLING STONE
“‘Beyond The Stars’ taps into the painful feelings of longing to be with the one you've lost. Neilson and Nelson's vocals blend beautifully on the emotional and poetic song, anchored by a soaring string section.” – THE BOOT
“‘Beyond the Stars’ works to help remedy all loss, giving hope for a reunification someday in the future in the eternal dwelling of the cosmos, delivered via the timeless tones of Willie’s guitar Trigger.”
Recorded at Neil Finn’s Roundhead Studios in Neilson’s adopted hometown of Auckland, New Zealand, KINGMAKER marks Neilson’s most provocative and powerful collection to date. Fueled by the world-changing events of the past two years, the album’s songs expose and explode the patriarchal structures that pervade the music industry, family life, and society as a whole. While Neilson has previously explored these themes on such acclaimed LPs as 2018’s SASSAFRASS! (hailed by PopMatters as “a potent social and political statement dressed up in catchy melodies and infectious choruses that sometimes belie the more serious elements taking place deep within the choruses.”), the new album draws these challenging ideas out even further, shining a dramatic musical light on what the late bell hooks referred to as “the politics of domination” that render women nameless and voiceless. Songs like “Baby, You’re A Gun” and the cinematic title track see Neilson giving her own resonant voice to women everywhere – to their strength, power, fierceness, and resilience in the face of structural and cultural barriers to their full participation in society.
Born in Toronto, Tami Neilson has been performing for as long as she can remember, first alongside her parents and brothers in the Canadian country music family band, The Neilsons. From being cradled as a baby in the arms of Roy Orbison, singing with Kitty Wells at the age of 10, and opening for Johnny Cash in her pajamas at 18, she had already led an extraordinary life before leaving North America in 2007 to start her own family on the other side of the world in New Zealand, where she has resided ever since. It was there Neilson forged her own artistic path as a critically acclaimed solo artist and songwriter, busking on the streets of Auckland and performing in countless clubs before ultimately earning wide-ranging applause and myriad NZ-based awards for her booming vocal power and inventive, strikingly personal approach to country, rockabilly, and soul.
2020’s CHICKABOOM! proved her most internationally praised work thus far, with No Depression declaring, “Neilson’s phrasing is impeccable…she gets inside the song, turns it inside and out, and makes it her own. She can soar on the rockers, she can deliver the heart-rending ache of a ballad of lost love, and she can capture the playfulness of a schoolyard rhyme with a joyous seriousness.” With her tireless work ethic, seemingly infinite musical gifts, and subversive songwriting approach, Tami Neilson has already found extraordinary success on her own terms. Now, with the groundbreaking KINGMAKER, she takes her music and message even further, using her one-of-a-kind voice to rattle cages and change the game for those who have been denied their rightful place at the table for far too long.
TAMI NEILSON - KINGMAKER TOUR DATES
Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra
30 July Auckland, Aotea Centre, Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre
Chamber Music New Zealand
3 August New Plymouth Theatre Royal
10 August Wellington Opera House
13 August Tauranga Baycourt
17 August Nelson Theatre Royal
18 August Dunedin Regent Theatre
Christchurch Symphony Orchestra
20 August Christchurch Douglas Lilburn, Christchurch Town Hall
Ticket info www.tamineilson.com