Tami Neilson gears up for Night Gig
Award-winning singer returns
Country music singer Tami Neilson is coming to Kāpiti for her next show – and she couldn’t be more excited. Neilson grew up in Ontario, Canada, and her music career originated from being a part of her family’s country band, the Neilsons.
She toured the United States and Canada as part of the band for about a decade, before meeting and falling in love with her husband Grant, who happened to be a Kiwi.
That’s when she made the decision to move to New Zealand to be with him, and she’s spent the last 20 years building her career here and continuing to tour. Since then, she has won several awards over the years, most recently the 2023 Apra Best Country Music Song award for Beyond the Stars ,a duet she performed with Willie Nelson.
Now, after a year of international travelling, including a six-month stint in the United States on tour with her family, Neilson’s next gig is in Kāpiti.
She’s going to be performing at the Kāpiti Food Fair’s Night Gig, which will be held on Saturday, at Mazengarb Reserve, Paraparaumu.
Neilson will be supported by local band Jodie and the Stowaways, and the show starts at 7.15pm.
Neilson said it had been quite a while since she visited Kāpiti, and recalled the last time when she got lost on the way because her GPS took her over the mountains.
“I thought we would never see civilisation again, but everything turned out all right.”
Despite that, she’s looking forward to visiting again, and with summer coming up, she said being outdoors and enjoying the Kāpiti Food Fair would be good.
“After being overseas for a year, I’m so looking forward to being home for the summer and playing New Zealand festivals.”
Neilson and her husband live in Waiuku, near Auckland, and after a couple of gigs in bigger cities, including a soldout show in Wellington, she’s excited to perform in a smaller area like Kāpiti.
“It’s nice to get out of the big city.”
Neilson said the Greater Wellington region could potentially be her favourite part of New Zealand, especially the Kāpiti Coast.
“I feel like it’s my favourite spot in New Zealand. “I definitely love that area.” She said the food, culture, community and music in Kāpiti were her favourite parts of the district.
“It’s just one of the beauty spots in New Zealand.”
The Kāpiti Food Fair was established in 2008 as a community event and is now a privately owned and operated business partnership between Helene Judge and Jeanine van Kradenburg, who helped conceptualise the initial event. Their mission is to bring visitors to Kāpiti for an enjoyable, indulgent, and satisfying day out.
I’m so looking forward to being home for the summer and playing New Zealand festivals. Tami Neilson
If you would like to attend the Night Gig, you can purchase tickets at events. humanitix.com/kapitifood-fair-night-gig2023, and you can purchase tickets for the Kāpiti Food Fair at kapitifoodfair.co.nz/ tickets.