Tami Neilson's influences have always been somewhat different from those of her peers, closer to the Great American Songbook than the shifting tastes of contemporary commercial radio.
It is a matter of history, hers, growing up in Canada in a musical family where her parents' broad musical palette was influential.
"My late dad Ron had been a full-time musician since he was 17 and my mum was musically talented so I guess my introduction to a career was almost pre-ordained," Nielsen explains.
"When I was 13, I became a full-time singer and sometimes accompanist in The Neilsons, as part of the family business. Because we were constantly on the road I didn't go to school, which sort of explains my musical influences. Instead of being influenced by my peers' tastes from the music of the day, because we were together literally most of the time, it was the music that Dad and Mum played which initially cast its shadow over me. This meant the Beatles, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, and especially Dolly Parton, Judy Garland, Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn. These were the touchstones that have stayed with me and also inspired me to write songs as well."
Neilson arrived in New Zealand in 2004, marrying a Kiwi, and essentially carried on from where she had left off in North America, where she had already built a following. Her profile grew rapidly and recording sessions produced albums in 2014 and 2015, Dynamite and Don't Be Afraid respectively, that helped her create a fan-base here, while regular touring maintained her reach into the US and Canada.
"Over the past few years I have been extremely lucky with the way my career has developed," she says. "My dad in particular had instilled in me a strong work ethic, which played a large part, along with my own approach to song-writing. I also managed to surround myself with good people, like my brother Jay, my band and the crew at the [Sitting Room] recording studio in Lyttelton. I wanted my next album to be different and to grow my performance and especially my song-writing," Neilson says.
That meant reaching back into some rich musical traditions, but in a way that was novel for even the thoroughly well-schooled Tami Neilson.
She had been listening to a lot of soul music when out of the blue she was asked to curate and perform a gospel show for the Christchurch Jazz and Blues Festival, in the Cardboard Cathedral. Initially, she baulked at the idea, thinking it would take her too far from her comfort zone.
"But then I realised that we could broaden the brief a little and a lot of the music I was now listening to would fit into this show. Luckily, the organisers and I reached a compromise and it became more of a soul show. I brought together a 20-song set list from the likes of Ray Charles, Mahalia Jackson, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and especially Mavis Staples, who I adore. My approach has always been go big or go home, and the programme was a resounding success, and that set the scene for what became the album Sassafrass!."
Choosing the songs for the jazz festival show took Neilson on a trip back to her early days when her folks were listening to blues artists such as Howlin' Wolf, Lightnin' Hopkins, Etta James, Janis Joplin and, again, Mavis Staples.
"The song choices reflected not just delivering a gritty and passionate vocal performance , but I realised that I would have to take on a big stage personality, with a mix of swagger and intimacy," Neilson says.
The months following the jazz show saw Neilson mostly on the road in North America, but she was also gestating the new record.
"I wanted to deliver some messages which have always been close to my heart, mostly about my views on how much harder it is for women to make their way in the music world. I reckon that the first song on the album, Stay Out of My Business, represents my feelings pretty well and I am especially proud of the video we made to go with it.
"Overall, Sassafrass! reflects the passion I had developed for soul, gospel and blues music."
However, it's not all manifesto. Neilson says another track from the album, Bananas, is simply a fun novelty song.
"I have no idea where that one came from.
"I was definitely channelling a late-night Ray Charles persona on Diamond Ring, and, yes, on A Woman's Pain, I was inspired by Bobbie Gentry and her song about the Tallahatchie Bridge."
The chart-topping Gentry hit of 1967, Ode to Billie Joe, involved oblique discussion of a secret affair that ended in a tragic jump from the bridge.
Neilson's song drew on her grandmother's experience of a teen pregnancy and shotgun wedding.
Other musical heroes also feature on Sassafrass!, including the recently departed.
American soul and funk singer the late Sharon Jones, who fronted for the Dap-Kings, gets her own song on the record, simply called Miss Jones.
"And I had the idea for Manitoba Sunrise at Motel Six when I heard about Glen Campbell's death," Nielsen says of another track.
"I knew when the sessions at the Sitting Room studios were done that Sassafrass! was quite different and it will be interesting with our upcoming tour to see how it is received."
Neilson is now introducing the new album in Canada, following a quick foray into China, with her Hot Rockin' Band of Rhythm, made up of Joe MacCallum (drums), Mike Hall (bass), Brett Adams (guitar) and Neil Watson (guitar and pedal steel).
She then returns to New Zealand, and the "Sassafrass!" tour visits Dunedin's Knox Church on Saturday, July 28.
The Miltones' frontwoman, Milly Tabak, will open for Neilson in Dunedin with a solo set.
Win tickets
The Weekend Mix has a double pass to Tami Neilson's Dunedin gig at Knox Church. To go in the draw, send your name, address and daytime contact number to playtime@odt.co.nz
