STACK NZ Oct #67

FEATURE

MUSIC

Don’t Be Afraid , the new album from Tami Neilson , is a deeply personal tribute to her late father Ron. She talks to John Ferguson about the various stages of grief and how his passing is reflected both musically and lyrically on the album. T ami Neilson reckons Willie Nelson summed it up best: you sing the blues to lose the blues. And the New Zealand-

traditional take on Americana. And it’s appropriate too. She says Ron was always more of blues and R&B singer – her love of country comes from her mother Betty –and he loved Bury My Body , a song Neilson wrote when he first entered hospital. “It’s a very old school gospel blues song, really,” she says. “He was a very strong man of faith – he loved that song, because it was a defiance song about not being afraid of the circumstances and not getting down about it.” The title track is also special as it was the last song her father wrote, and a demo version of Don’t Be Afraid – which she recorded while he was in hospital – is included as a bonus track. “It’s a very special song in so many ways and I thought it was perfect to be the title track, because to me now, the words are Dad speaking to me: ‘Don’t be afraid, I’m with you.'” Although she often delves into soul and rockabilly, Neilson is usually seen described as a country artist – Dynamite! won country album of the year in 2014 – and she acknowledges that some of the

“Getting all the boys in town at the same time is very rare these days, but I thought, ‘I can’t do it, it’s going to be the most depressing album of all time,'” she tells STACK over coffee in Auckland. “But Delaney said ‘I think it is the opposite, it’s uplifting and hopeful.' It’s a strong album, I guess, even though it’s come at my weakest time. It’s about carrying on.” According to Neilson, the record is a journey through the stages of grief, from the raw angry gospel of Holy Mose s to the bittersweet album closer, the touching country lament The First Man . As well as the lyrics to many of

based, Canadian singer-songwriter has had a lot of blues to lose of late, following the unexpected death earlier this year of her father Ron, who she used to perform with years ago as part of the travelling Neilson Family. She had only just begun working on the follow-up to her award-winning 2014 album Dynamite! when the news came through that her father had fallen seriously ill. She flew to Canada to be with her family and only began writing in earnest – with her brother Jay – after his death. Naturally, his passing cast a big shadow over the songs they came up with, and Neilson admits her first impulse was to put everything on hold even though the studio time with her regular collaborators – Delaney Davidson, Ben Woolley, Dave Khan and Joe McCallum – had already been booked.

the songs, her father’s passing is also reflected in the music itself: while it does contain some of her trademark big country ballads, many of the songs are closer in spirit to Delaney Davidson's junkyard blues than her usual more

songs will surprise some of her fans: “The first time I did the playback of Holy Moses , I looked at Delaney and said ‘I guess I can pretty much guarantee that I won’t be going to Gore for the country album of the year!’” That said, the record also includes another song started by

...it’s uplifting and hopeful ...even though it’s come at my weakest time

her father (this one 20 years ago): the gorgeous ballad Lonely , which Neilson has transformed into a heartbreaking duet with Marlon Williams, while songs like Only Tears and If Love Were Enough are also steeped in the classic country sounds of Dynamite!. But given the events of the year, Don’t Be Afraid was always likely to be rawer than her previous outings. “There is lot more edge and a lot more grit,” Neilson agrees. “But that just comes with what I was going through. As an artist, whatever you create reflects what you are going through at the time. With Dynamite! , I had a little one and I was also pregnant, and it was a real happy time. This one is about going through a lot of challenges and I think the title of the album for me also has a lot of meaning for me musically – don’t be afraid where this music is going.”

• Don’t Be Afraid by Tami Neilson is out now.

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