Tami Neilson finds her balance Down Under
If there’s a better place to be in a musician’s life than the one Tami Neilson is in, I haven’t seen it. Fresh off the release of her latest album, Sassafras!, earlier this month, the New Zealand-based Canadian has reached the point in her career where she’s able to not just produce the music she wants to, but also let go of the usual trappings of “making it” in order to also focus on being a wife and mother.
She calls it balance. I call it freedom.
“If it was just me to consider, then I probably would have packed up and flown over (to the United States) and have a go touring endlessly and tirelessly,” said Neilson. “But I’m actually really grateful that I’m at this place in my life where I have other people to consider other than myself, which I think makes you a better person, but also a better writer, a better musician, a better performer, a better artist.”
A spin of Sassafras! will have you nodding along with that statement, as Neilson has never sounded as willing to take risks with her music as she is now. It’s still got those jolts of country, rock, soul and rockabilly throughout, but she’s combined everything in a stew in which she’s opted for the “less than more” philosophy,
“I really value space in my music,” Neilson said. “Vocal gymnastics and people going whole hog the entire time, it actually takes away from the performance. Having some nuance and some dynamics showcases a voice more than going full throttle the whole time. I remember seeing Mavis Staples for the first time and it was just her and a three-piece band — guitar, drums, bass. And they filled that room. You could hear every note, and their groove, everything was locked in. All the superfluous stuff was stripped away and you got just the real succinct, distilled amazing quality of her voice. And I love that, and that’s something that really inspired me. The more space you have, the more that a vocal shines. There’s something powerful in that for me.”
The power isn’t just in the sonics and the performances on Sassafras! but in the lyrical content as well. Tackling modern issues with no holds barred, Neilson has provided a blueprint for how to address society’s issues with both fists, but without preaching. Again, it’s about balance.
“I think there’s a balance for everything,” she said. “While I think all of this dialogue about equality for the sexes is really important for women, it’s equally important for my sons to grow up in a world where they treat whoever they end up with — whether it’s male or female — the same way that they expect to be treated. It’s not good for anyone when one person is treated less than another. So I think all of this makes for better men, it makes for better women, it makes for a better world. My parents were totally equal in parenting as well, which was unusual for the 60s and 70s. I would love for my boys to listen to this album in twenty years and giggle and go, ‘I can’t believe that you actually had to say those things. It’s so obsolete now.’ I would love for that to happen, that these aren’t issues and the things we have to fight about anymore.”
Oh, they will be listening to this album in twenty years, and they won’t be alone. The question is, with spots like Austin or Nashville more suited for her music, will New Zealand be big enough for Neilson? She doesn’t hesitate to respond.
“I’m gonna be unique and it will be faster to make my mark,” she said. “And I ended up creating things that aren’t dictated by the music industry or what’s around me. I feel my music is definitely more unique thanks to being based in New Zealand.”
No arguments there.
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