There has been no shortage of celebratory notes in Lynn Vare's household this week.
On Sunday night, Vare and friend Deirdre Newall received a text message from fellow Delgirl member Erin Morton informing them they had won the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand award (otherwise known as a Tui) for best folk album of 2008 for their independent release Two, maybe three, days ride.
Morton was in Kumeu, attending the Auckland Folk Festival at which the gong was announced, thus she missed out on sharing a couple of gins with her band-mates.
The others also got to have pudding and some nibbles.
"We got a text at 9.45pm saying, `we got it'," Vare says.
"We were sensible. When you have a 7-year-old who is going to be up bright and early . . .
"Erin went up to the awards. We couldn't all go," Vare says.
"Erin has been involved in the folk scene since she was 15 and knows a lot of people. She was keen to go up and she was completely the right person. It was great because Marcus Turner, a long-time friend, was there and she just walked off the stage into his arms."
Vare is speaking via telephone from the Dalmore home she shares with husband Simon and son George, who briefly interrupts our telephone conversation ("No George, I'm on the phone. George, wait . . ." ). George is a little excited; the day of the interview happens to be his seventh birthday. Another celebration is planned for today; no fewer than 11 small boys have been invited; there will be noise; there may even be music.
Vare: "George loves music. He says he's the 'G' in Delgirl."
Anyway, back to Mum and her friends: For the benefit of those who know little about Delgirl, Vare plays percussion, snare drum and tenor ukulele (she is also learning the banjo), Newall the double bass and bodhran drum, and Morton the guitar, trumpet and ukulele (according to Vare, Morton is also a great fiddle player).
"We're pretty thrilled," Vare says.
Others are, too.
"I think our local mates are just really proud. Down at the post office, they're saying, 'we're really proud of you'; likewise my hairdresser . . . they are all part of it.
"We were just delighted to be in the final three. I didn't really think we would get it. It was quite a surprise, really. Apparently, it was heavily contested. The folk section gets the most nominees.
"It does mean a lot. You look at the calibre of people we were up against and you think, 'wow'. I don't know who the judges were but, ultimately, it's just someone's opinion. You like it or you don't."
Other finalists in the best album category were Martin Curtis, from Cardrona, with Sea To Summit, his ninth album of New Zealand folk songs, and the Hamilton County Bluegrass Band with its fifth album, Way Down South. Given such pedigree (formed in the 1960s, the Hamilton County Bluegrass Band is the only New Zealand group to play The Grand Ole Opry in the United States), Delgirl is a comparative newcomer.
However, it's not the first time members of the group have been in line for a Tui: as members of Dunedin outfit the T + D Bigger Band, Newall and Morton were nominated as finalists in the folk category in 1997 for their album Hillingdon. Released in late 2007 (meaning it just qualified under the Tui award parameters, from November 16, 2007, to November 15, 2008), Two, maybe three, days ride showcases Delgirl's multiple musical personalities: jazz and country bump up against western swing, gospel, folk, blues and Pacific flavours.
"It's hard trying to fit into a niche," Vare says. "We all have different leanings. That's what is unique about the band - there is no one front-person. It gives people an opportunity to listen to more than one thing, so we'll stick with that.
"We always say we are a roots band but some people think by that you mean reggae-dub, because they don't understand the concept of roots. I think of folk music as roots music.
"Folk is wide; it's very free; it's all-encompassing. It's not just Scottish dances. It's so much more," she enthuses, pointing to the variety of performers she has witnessed as a member of Dunedin's New Edinburgh Folk Club.
"I think there is this great freedom to try different things. I think people listen to a wider range of stuff now."
Work is well under way on the group's second album. Several demo tracks have been recorded with Dunedin musician Tom Young, who performs under the moniker Freddy Fuddpucker, and the band plans to return to the studio in May or June, when work will begin in earnest.
"We felt quite inspired after the last album and were thinking, 'right, on to the next one'," Vare says. "We'll certainly take our time. The next one will be different again, more of what we want to achieve musically, though we are really proud of the first album."
The combination of Tui award, a growing national profile and selection last year of the track Ride on a New Zealand Trade and Enterprise compilation, New Zealand - New Music, distributed to film and television agencies worldwide, suggests the life cycle of a band that formed in 2000 is undergoing something of a growth spurt.
However, the pulse of fun and family will always take priority, Vare says.
"We just like doing what we do. We are always open to things. Going overseas would be a thrill, but our families are always the first things on our minds. I think we are happy with how it is; go to the West Coast, take five days off, play, meet great people, eat good food . . . it's not bad.
"The reality in New Zealand is you either tour all the time or play. Full-time musicians are teaching, playing in covers bands. There are some amazing people who do that, but that's not what we do," says Vare, who works in a home-based music business with husband Simon.
"I don't like to be away from my family for too long. The tour last year was huge; 21 days in a row is a lot. It was quite tiring. We'll just try to do manageable tours that fit in with our lifestyles.
"That's the point of Delgirl; it's just meant to be something that we enjoy and enhances our lives rather than destroys them.
"We'll try and do as much as we can during the year. We've got a few festivals coming up. We've got the Hokonui Moonshiners Festival in February."
In the meantime, there's a party to organise.
"Eleven boys on Saturday . . ." There is the briefest of pauses, a hint that, perhaps, the enormity of another occasion is just sinking in.
"That will be all go."
Tui facts
• The Folk category was introduced to the awards in 1984.
• Recent previous winners of the Tui for best folk album:
2005: Lorina Harding for the album Clean Break.
2006: Ben the Hoose (Kenny Ritch and Bob McNeill) for The Little Cascade.
2007: Phil Garland for his 18th album, Southern Odyssey.
CD review
The 15 songs that comprise Dunedin trio Delgirl's Tui award-winning debut album Two, maybe three, days ride are not unlike the cover photo depicting a sunny hinterland.
Yet there are shadows, too.
To love is to risk being hurt is the implied message.
On that lyrical tightrope, the trio often tread, to the strains of double bass (Deirdre Newall), guitar and soprano ukulele (Erin Morton) and tenor ukulele and percussion (Lynn Vare).
Delgirl have been playing for several years and the tight familiarity of the ensemble is clearly apparent.
All three members contribute equally to the album; some of the songs are old gems, some are more recent. They are both polished and dusty, implying a veranda and a wine or two was involved in the creative process.
Recorded by Tom Young (aka Freddy Fuddpucker, a Dunedin performer with an ear for skewed country songs) and mixed by Dale Cotton, Two, maybe three, days ride merges jazz-country lilt (Ride), white-girl gospel (Sin), finger-picked folk (Old Fool) with relaxed, bluesy strains.
To the fore is the vocal ability of all three members; lyrics, intimate and direct, are taken to another plane by sumptuous harmonies in a heartfelt collection that is classy yet nicely understated.
