Auckland-based duo Tattletale Saints' 2014 Tui Award for Best Folk Album is reward for focusing on substance over style, writes Shane Gilchrist.
Far from the Grammy's glitz, another award ceremony involving New Zealanders took place earlier this week.
The place: Kumeu, West Auckland; the event: the Auckland Folk Festival, at which the winners of the Tui Award for Best Folk Album 2014 were announced. And they were (drum, or bodhran, roll please) ... Tattletale Saints.
Talk about good timing. The Auckland-based duo of Vanessa McGowan (double bass, vocals) and Cy Winstanley (guitar, vocals) had all but packed their bags for a 21-date national tour when they were declared Tui winners for their album, How Red Is the Blood, pipping fellow finalists Into The East (Invercargill/Wanaka duo of Liv McBride and Graeme Moller, Fight From the Inside), and Auckland solo artist Chris Priestley (Unsung Heroes).
The award is also testament to people power. McGowan and Winstanley set up a successful crowd-funding campaign (via website Pledge Me) that took them to Nashville early last year to record How Red Is the Blood.
''A lot of people from the folk community got behind us,'' McGowan says via phone from Auckland.
''I think the people who pledged money were happy enough with the album, but it's nice that it has been recognised by the music industry as well.
''It was a fun night. It had rained all night at Kumeu, but we managed to have a few whiskies afterwards as well as celebrate with all the folk festival people.
''We are proud of our album. We think it's the best thing we could have made. We did put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into the project. The award is nice and reminds us that we are doing a good thing, particularly when we are doing this full-time.''
McGowan (32) and Winstanley (31) first met as teenagers in Auckland, performing together in a community big band while at different high schools.
''Cy actually got RSI and had to quit playing guitar for a while; that's when he discovered he could sing, which in hindsight was a good thing. We lost touch for a while, then reconnected,'' McGowan explains.
''We were a couple for five years but haven't been partners for a couple of years. We put the band together while we were living in London. We just started playing together. Back then, I didn't sing, but Cy convinced me to. I was really not happy about it, mostly because it was scary. But I have grown to enjoy it.''
There's certainly no sign of any vocal reticence on How Red Is the Blood. Winstanley's voice is clear and assured and it's no big stretch to liken it to Paul Simon. And in the space between Winstanley's delicate, focused acoustic guitar and her own assured double bass playing, McGowan provides harmonies that range from light and lilting to slightly darker laments.
''We try really hard to work out the best way to use the sounds - which are double bass, acoustic guitar and dual vocals - in a way that is not cluttered, but is still inventive. We are careful with the arrangements.''
Even though McGowan's off-sider is a ''huge'' fan of country music, and holds dear to that ethos of lyrics being all-important, the pair both love jazz. Thus the songs on How Red Is the Blood aren't as simple as they might first seem.
''We can't help but be influenced by other forms of music.
''I think folk music has had this dusty vibe attached to it, this image of sitting in an old cardigan, singing old English folk songs. However, I think folk music means a focus on songwriting. It's about the song rather than the sound,'' McGowan says.
That said, Tattletale Saints headed to Nashville to make How Red Is the Blood because they wanted to utilise the expertise of those intimate with recording acoustic instruments, specifically Grammy Award-winning bluegrass multi-instrumentalist Tim O'Brien and engineer David Ferguson.
''One of the reasons we wanted to use Tim was his understanding of all of the various instruments. Though our album isn't bluegrass, there is that tonality and recording technique at play.
''We wanted someone who was familiar with the process of recording acoustic instruments, as well as someone who respected the idea of the song as the most important element. We didn't want heaps of layers and textures,'' McGowan says, adding the album was recorded over four days then mixed over another four.
O'Brien contributed mandolin, octave mandolin and fiddle to the album but McGowan says that though she and Winstanley were tempted to include more of O'Brien's instrumental flourishes, they restrained themselves.
''We were conscious of making a `duo' album, rather than a full band album just because Tim was available. Also, because we were in Nashville, we had an engineer who works with these sorts of instruments all the time, so it was easy for him to get a really clear sound across the spectrum.''
Having put out How Red Is the Blood in New Zealand independently (it is distributed by Rhythm Method and offshoot DRM, which will release the album in digital form in the US), Tattletale Saints are heading back to Nashville next month, when they will release their album and tour before immersing themselves in acoustic music, including in Nashville.
''New Zealand does have a good acoustic scene, but in Nashville you are surrounded by people of all ages doing it and playing at a really high level. We thought it'd be inspiring to be immersed in the music for some time,'' McGowan says.
''We love playing in other outfits and want to continue to do that but we want Tattletale Saints to be the main project - at least for a while.
''Cy and I are both professional musicians. We play a lot in various ensembles. I've also been teaching music at Massey, as has Cy. Both of us have a firm commitment to tour and perform as a job.
''Going to the US is the first step in that process. New Zealand just isn't big enough to sustain a full-time career playing this kind of music,'' she says.
''We have a chance that we can't miss.''
In the meantime, Tattletale Saints are about to embark on a national tour with 10-String Symphony, a Nashville duo comprising Rachel Baiman and Christian Sedelmyer, who each sing and play five-string fiddle as well as occasional clawhammer banjo and resonator mandolin.
The tour party is not ignoring the South either, with concerts scheduled for Dunedin, Wanaka and Oamaru this month.
''I played double bass with them when they were on tour here in late 2012 and soon after, in early 2013, when we were recording our album in Nashville, we met up with them again,'' McGowan explains.
''We jammed a lot and went to parties together so consolidated our friendship there. Because both our acts have no management or agents, we also decided we'd try and share our resources back here and over there and help each other out.''
Note: The Tui for Best Folk Album 2014 is for recordings released in the 12 months prior to October 2013. The folk category was introduced to the New Zealand Music Awards in 1984.
Tattletale Saints and 10-String Symphony perform the following dates:
- Penguin Club, Oamaru, Thursday, February 13
- Chick's Hotel, Port Chalmers, Friday, February 14
- Gin & Raspberry, Wanaka, Saturday, February 15
