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MUSIC
FEATURE
29
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-
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.
“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
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
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
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
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.”
...it’s uplifting
and hopeful
...even though
it’s come at my
weakest time
•
Don’t Be Afraid
by Tami Neilson
is out now.