Last month, after collaborative recording sessions in Canada, the pair simultaneously released "sister albums"; Neilson's The Kitchen Table Sessions Vol II builds on the critically acclaimed Vol 1, for which she won a Recording Industry Association (Rianz) best country music album award (2010), while Thomson makes her debut with Chanteuses & Shotguns.
The duo is bringing its rootsy, country-infused music to the South over the next few days, its performances in Gore, Dunedin and Oamaru part of a 20-date tour.
Neilson, who also won the Rianz best country album award for her debut Red Dirt Angel, is in good company - Thomson won the 2010 New Zealand songwriting trust award and is also an Apra Silver Scroll nominee.
Of her latest album, the Canada-born, Auckland-based Neilson explains: "I returned once again to my brother's kitchen table in June, 2010, escaping a New Zealand winter for a sweltering Canadian summer.
"This time we sipped cold sweet tea and feasted on the fruit from local orchards while drops of sweat fell on to guitar and banjo strings... I was back with my fellow Neilsons, doing what we were all born to do, together.
"However, growing more and more into a hybrid 'Caniwi' these past few years, I wanted the recipe for this next batch of songs to include a generous dose of Kiwi ingredients, so I brought along a beautiful native honey, Lauren Thomson, to add her flavour to the mix.
"I love going to my brother's kitchen table to record because it's so comfortable, relaxed and fun - it's not work at all. Working with my family is magic. There's just nothing like it: those family harmonies and the connection you have without having to say a word."
Those fortunate enough to listen to The Kitchen Table Sessions Vol II and Chanteuses & Shotguns will notice one track appears on both albums. No Good For My Soul was the result of getting waylaid, Neilson explains.
"It was 35 degrees and sweltering hot so we took a break from recording and went to the beach [Port Dalhousie, near Niagara Falls in Ontario]. We got lost for two hours on our way back due to my rubbish sense of direction - even in my own country, I'm hopeless.
"Lauren started humming this tune and we started to write it to pass the time. We recorded it that evening."
Says Thomson of the experience: "When Tami asked me to travel to her homeland and collaborate with her, I had no idea I'd end up with my own album at the end of it. But such is life, full of many surprises, and I'm certainly glad it threw me this one.
"Playing music and hanging out with the Neilson family in the hot Canadian sun was an unbeatable cocktail of banjos and harmonicas, energy and laughter... All of these elements have created an album that is, at its core, sweet, energetic, and a little bit raw."
• See them
Tami Neilson and Lauren Thomson play the following dates: Hokonui Moonshiners' Festival, Gore, today; New Edinburgh Folk Club, Dunedin, tomorrow; Carey's Bay Hotel, Port Chalmers, Wednesday; The Penguin Club, Oamaru, Thursday.
