From open mic nights to clubs, to then headlining theatres and major festivals across New Zealand, Tami has
now won almost every music award possible.

2022 now brings Tami’s 5th album, Kingmaker. Recorded at Neil Finn’s Roundhead Studios, Kingmaker was
born of the pandemic. A moment when women were struggling. Frontline workers fighting for human lives.
Essential services providers. Disproportionately affected by furlough: a “she-cession,” analysts termed it.
Women put their dreams and careers on hold to care for their families and homeschool children. They
mobilised online to bring awareness to domestic abuse and systemic inequalities. They marched in the streets
for the lives of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor, and the remains of more than 1,700
indigenous children found in mass graves of former residential schools in Canada.

The songs of Kingmaker exposes industry systems, exploding patriarchal structures of the industry, society,
and family. These are not new themes for Tami – both her 2018 album Sassafrass! and 2020 Chickaboom! called attention to misogyny and patriarchal structures.
But Kingmaker draws out this out theme further. In the opening, title track, Tami calls out the men that control
the industry and create “kings” of its male artists. But the song flips the script: with the cinematic flair of a
Bond film, Tami puts women in the seat of power. Speaking for a collective of kingmakers, speaking sharply,
speaking with irritation, she challenges what bell hooks (Talking Back) terms the politics of domination that
render women nameless and voiceless in the industry. This is not a breakdown or a collapse. This is a revolt.

Tami questions gender roles and expectations of women in society. She shines a line on misogyny and sexual
misconduct that pervades the music industry. Before they’re too grown to see… She sings of the
underestimation of women, of their strength, power, fierceness, and resilience in the face of structural, and
cultural barriers to their full participation in society.

Grief is central to this narrative. There’s the grief of loss. After finding a work tape of her father Ron Neilson of
music for an unfinished song, Tami wrote the lyrics that completed “I Can Forget” – a song about being caught
unexpectedly by grief. This theme continues in Tami’s duet with Willie Nelson on “Beyond the Stars.” There’s
also the grief that comes with realizing that the music that runs in your blood is tainted and poisonous for
women and people of colour.

Tami’s story is at the centre of this feminist tapestry. “King of Country Music” reveals her country music
lineage: singing with Queen of Country music Kitty Wells at the age of 10, touring with her family, slipping
demo tapes in laundry bags of stars. Unlike the male stars who inherited their position by virtue of being white
men in a system built by and for white men, this song addresses the challenges that women face earning their
place in the industry.

The story of Tami Neilson is just taking shape, from her humble beginnings and tireless work ethic, and
success, on her own terms. Tami Neilson is now using her voice to be a game changer, a cage shaker, a
Kingmaker.

Label
Southbound
Genre
Country LP
Kingmaker
Careless Woman
Baby, You're a Gun
King Of Country Music
Beyond the Stars feat. Willie Nelson
Green Peaches
Mama's Talkin
I Can Forget
The Grudge
Ain't My Job

SOUTHBOUND