Jackie Bristow, the Gore girl who has grown into a globetrotting woman, was on the line from a hair salon in Auckland a few days ago.
She was having her locks dyed. She hoped the colour would come out right. Certainly, there was little room for remedy.
The following night, a Thursday, heralded the opening gig of a two-week "Saints and Sinners" national tour with fellow country singers Tami Neilson and Lauren Thomson.
Having honed their harmonies, the trio plan to swap songs and stories in a format Bristow describes as "writers-in-the-round".
The series of intimate acoustic shows comes to the South the week after next.
Later in the month, Bristow and the Blue Moons, a collection of Australian musicians, will headline the Hokonui Moonshiners' Festival.
She's looking forward to the February 27 event in her home town, where she has been living with her parents since Christmas following a hectic 2009 which culminated in a tour to Japan and the completion of her third album, Freedom, in Australia.
Freedom takes its name from a new-found independence.
Thus she has discovered freedom has its flipside - hard work, in the form of organising album artwork, distribution and promotion.
"I'm in touch with everyone," she explains, adding the album will be released in New Zealand in a fortnight, followed by successive rollouts in Japan and Australia and the US, pending distribution deals.
"Freedom is aptly titled. It's elation, really, at being independent ... when other people are investing money, they are calling the shots. It was really nice to choose the players, the band."
Bristow produced Freedom with Australian industry veteran Mark Punch, who flew to Austin for initial recording sessions involving "some killer players", including J.
J Johnson, John Mayer's drummer, Jeff Young, a keyboardist who tours with Steely Dan and Jackson Browne, and backing vocalist Mahalia Barnes, Jimmy Barnes' daughter.
Of the 10 songs on Freedom, Bristow wrote eight, with the remaining two collaborative efforts.
And the material differs from the Tui award-nominated Crazy Love and her debut effort, Thirsty.
Several of the songs are more upbeat, strident even: Hightail. It is driven by a bar-room rock riff, while Pray For The Love and Rebel In My Soul benefit from the rise-and-fall dynamics provided by an excellent backing band.
"This one is rootsier and rockier. I'd never been able to rock out before. But when I went to Austin I thought, I just want to have fun and let the audience have fun, too."
Motivated by good press and a more supportive environment in Austin, Bristow moved from her Los Angeles base inmid-2008.
She says it's the best move she has made.
"My music has changed. I have played so many gigs since being there and have been to heaps of gigs, watching world-class players," says Bristow, who secured a regular gig at Austin's One World Theatre, opening for Rodney Crowell and Ricki Skaggs, among others.
Bristow plans to return to Austin in a couple of months, once her US visa is renewed.
In the meantime, however, she'll continue to enjoy the scenery and space of her homeland.
"Coming home to New Zealand was incredibly good for my writing," she enthuses, pointing to the closing track on her new album.
Titled Aotearoa, it reflects her love of Hokonui Hills, the Wakatipu area and further afield.
"It has been so nice to catch my breath. I was exhausted by the time I got back to New Zealand, so it has been nice to just hang out with mum and dad and drink wine at night.
"I've been taking in the stuff about New Zealand that I love ... Going out tramping and camping has helped fill up my soul."
A little history
- Inspired by a music teacher, Jackie Bristow began singing in a Gore choir at the age of 8..
- Encouraged by her grandmother, Jackie sang with her sister Katrina in an outfit called The Bristow Sisters.
- In 1995 her muse led her to Australia where she worked as a nanny by day before singing at night in clubs.
- Five years later, a copy of her demo reached the desk of Michael Gudinski, who signed her to write for Mushroom Music and record for Liberation Records.
- She released several singles and a debut album, Thirsty, in Australia and New Zealand.
- Her songs have been used in Australian film and television, including The Secret Life Of Us, Home And Away and Go Big.
- Bristow has toured with Art Garfunkel, Madeleine Peyroux, Renee Geyer, Mark Seymour and Capercaille, and in 2006 opened a tour for Daniel Lanois.
See them
Jackie Bristow, Tami Neilson and Lauren Thomson will perform the following dates as part of their "Saints and Sinners" tour:
> Tuesday, February 16: Chicks Hotel, Port Chalmers.
> Wednesday, February 17, Fleurs Place, Moeraki.
> Thursday, February 18, The Little Theatre, Gore.
> Friday, February 19, The Repertory Theatre, Invercargill.
> Jackie Bristow and the Blue Moons will headline the Hokonui Moonshiners' Festival on February 27.
