James Irwin: Tami Neilson - Neon Cowgirl

The last few years have been filled with highs and lows for Tami Neilson, but out of the emotional rollercoaster comes ‘Neon Cowgirl’.  

It represents Neilson’s lifelong dream of chasing Nashville and country music – a love letter to the literal Neon Cowgirl in downtown Nashville that watched Neilson grow up and chase her dreams. 

Music reviewer James Irwin isn’t the biggest fan of country, but this album might change his mind. He joined Jack Tame to give his thoughts. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Tame podcast
from News Talks at Me.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
You see them coming, you see them going, gab supply grow,
dump to have a.

Speaker 3 (00:30):
Show, Small, shut the stop, small, not to be broke? Urning.

Speaker 4 (01:08):
Ah, how good? That's Neon Car Girl, Tammy Neilson. And
that other voice you could hear might have sounded familiar.
That's because it was neil fun So good ad Tammy's
just released a new album, Neon Car Girl. James Irwin
is here with us this morning.

Speaker 5 (01:23):
Go to James Cura girda Jack. Oh well, what a
wonderful morning, Kaylee bell Foot last hour, isn't it so great?
We're celebrating powerful country singing, you know, hard working, hard
marty country girls, and we're seeing them out on the
world stage. Now, I mean country music maybe is the
new Nation's tonic a need?

Speaker 4 (01:44):
Yeah, it's funny. Yeah, it's just it's gone through a
massive moment. At the moment, like we're saying with Kaylee,
it just sort of feels like it's exploding.

Speaker 5 (01:49):
A it's absolutely exploding. I've been actually banging on about
Tammy Nielsen to Wellington listeners for a while. Now, I
mean she is a ball of energy. She is a
wild woman. She's the real deal. She is totally Heartbreak
City USA to me. And actually, last time we chatted, Jack,
I called it early and said there was an album

(02:11):
by Bill Ryder Jones Lucky Dar was the album of
the year, and you know, a bunch of music major
music publications at the end of the year agreed with me. Now,
I know it's only September, but I'm one of those
guys who's always chasing the album that's going to save
rock and roll in the loosest possible terms, or maybe
in this case, fire up some country soul and neon

(02:31):
Cowgirl currently might be sitting in number one place for me.
This is your tenth studio album, and that's what blew
my mind. Like I thought, oh, Tammy's released four or
five albums, and I went through her discography the ten
studio albums and then chuck in a couple of live albums.
This is bringing serious heat. This album. It's bootkicking, its

(02:52):
highway traveled, swager Field musical joy and Tammy's vocals are
absolutely roaring. She's born in Toronto, as a lot of
our listeners will know, but she came to Auckland. I
think she came to Auckland for love, and she pretty
much her music career from scratch when she got here.
She did grow up performing in a family band called
the Neilson's, and they were probably a bit like the

(03:15):
Jackson Five. They just toured across the US and Canada,
opening for legends like Johnny Cash. They're a pretty big
deal over in the States. I reckon Tammy Nelson clocked
her ten thousand hour long musical apprenticeship well long before
most of us went to tie our shoelaces. Yeah, so
neon Cowgirl. You know what I love about it, jack

(03:36):
gritty guitar licks. There's some glorious pedal steel that's never overdone.
The drums are really locked tight, and there's some fuzzed
up basslines which you don't really hear in country music
so often. And I really don't need to say how
good the singing is, because it's just out the gate incredible.
On some of the tracks, there's these beautiful orchestral strings

(03:58):
sort of swooping in and it kind of reminds me
of a h Grant Hugh Grant rom Com. You know,
the five weeks going on in the background. As the
romantic kiss or climax happens on the on the bridge
of the river and the fireworks go off. Musically, it's
a complete knockout. Is she's a great storyteller, and I
know you talked about it with Kaylie Bell. She's a

(04:19):
great storyteller as well, and that that makes the big
difference in country music. There's she's telling stories, she's lyrically,
she's really digging deep. She's she's singing about survival, about identity,
about lost jobs, lost loves, picking up hearts along the
road like souvenirs. There's there's kind of grit and gravitas.

(04:40):
Her voice feels so timeless, but it's kind of like
it's urgently alive. She's got something she wants everyone to
hear about. Yeah, it's it's you know, she's she's heading crossover,
like she's not just a country singer. You know. At
times I'm feeling like she's channeling sort of soul and
funkness and I feel like I'm bathing in the gospel

(05:01):
spirit at a church in Harlem, New York City. And
then other times I'm feeling like I I need to
get down down to cubistry and buy myself a giant
cowboy hat and go and join a line dancing. True,
she's she's just channeling so much is this soul and
this funk and the one thing that I always love
the music, but gospel handclaps. You know, definitely something there.

(05:21):
If you're a wreath, if you're in a Wretha Franklin fan,
you're gonna love it when she hits those big, banging
numbers and there's there's some huge dynamics on this on
this album, I did laugh. I was looking up a
few reviews. Mojo magazine, which is a terrific music magazine,
called her the Feral Patsy Climb, which I thought was
a wonderful one. You know likes Yeah, I reckon that's

(05:44):
a total compliment. You know, she's and this parts there's
really quiet parts in it as well. There's a lovely song,
the last song of the album, Loneliness of Love. It's
a solo piano track where she she kind of shows
she's not just a powerhouse. She's actually a beautiful songwriter
who can exude emotion and and really hushed tones. So
it's gone a little bit of everything you know on

(06:07):
this album for people she collaborates with a guy called JD. McPherson,
who sounds a bit like our own Delaney Davison, who
I'm a big fan as well. Like you said, Neil
Finn's cracks in on that because it was actually recorded
at Roundhouse Studio, which is owned by Neil Finn and Auckland.
It's equal parts bootscooting party. It's hard on the sleeve balladerie.

(06:28):
It's got stadium level swagger. It's the sound of highways,
you know late at night that she's probably she's traveled
across to it. It's Neon motel rooms. It's gospel choirs
from the pulpit and you know, I'm not even a
boozer jack, but if ever there's an album that made
me feel like pouring a bourbon and right about this
time of the morning. Yeah, it's terrific. She's playing live

(06:51):
all across the country. She got gigs coming up in October.
So Wantington, Auckland, christ Church, Nelson, total on and make
sure you get along. Honestly, if Tammy Nelson's Neon Cowgirl
was a crime scene, then you're going to find the
best DNA of soul and gospel under the victims fingertips
and my goodness, I'm happy to be one of those victims.

(07:12):
I'm not even a huge country man, but I am
loving it. I'm going to get myself some Cowboy books.

Speaker 4 (07:18):
So what did you give it, James? Out of ten?

Speaker 5 (07:20):
Oh, look, it's a nine and a half out of
ten and I haven't been in a nine and a
half for a long time. I just love this.

Speaker 4 (07:27):
Oh fantastic. I'm looking forward to having more of a listen.
Thank you so much, James. Love that. James Irwin reckons
nine out and a half out of ten as the
score for Neon Cowgirl Tammy Nelson's latest. We're going to
play a bit more for you in a couple of minutes.

Speaker 1 (07:40):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Team, listen live
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