''[I met Ivy] in 2011,'' Reid says over the phone from her home in Auckland.
''She was working for Native Tongue, and I think I was trying to do that terrible networking thing when we met. Later we relised we had all these mutual interests and a mutual appreciation for each other's music.
''Listening to us, we're both very different. Often bands who tour together are too similar, but both our styles meld together.''
Reid's style, which some have referred to as ''New Folk'', is a slow-burning and soulful one, echoing songwriters such as Beth Orton or Laura Marling. Supported by Reid's wonderful voice, there's a weight and world-weariness that belies her age.
''I've just recently started embracing the fact that what I do is folk music,'' Reid says.
After the tour, Reid will go straight to work on new EP Listen to Formation, Look for the Signs, which is set to be a more minimalist release than her 2011 debut Letters I Wrote But Never Sent.
''I'm recording with Dave Parker, who did Great North's album and Tiny Ruins stuff. For a while I felt like everything was taking too long and was overdue, but this feels like exactly the right time.
''I'd like to do everything right this time and it's going to be different to the last one. It'll be much more sparse, and more about the lyrics and the songwriting rather than the sound. I felt my songs got a little bit lost on the last record. I've got a much clearer idea about what I want to do now.''
Rossiter, formerly of Auckland, now living as a musical nomad, has been burning the candle at both ends around the country since releasing Luckless' debut album in 2012.
Her electrified take on songwriting, combined with a predilection for the unexpected and challenging musical directions have melted hearts across the country.
Together, Reid and Luckless are an arresting combination: Reid's acoustic new-folk cadence and clarity meld with Rossiter's distorted abrasiveness and looping chaos, the breadth and beauty of the show culminating in a collaborative set of badland ballads, new and old.
From May 14, Heads Up will be hosting the hip-hop show on Radio One 91FM.
To celebrate, the group is throwing a party at Queens tonight featuring performances by iMC, Ridge Jaggers, D-Range, DJ Pippin, Arcee and Mic Sure. Free entry from 9pm.
Hear them, see them
• Nadia Reid and Luckless, The Ballads and Badlands Tour with Bill Morris, tonight at Chick's Hotel, Port Chalmers, and tomorrow at the New Edinburgh Folk Club, Dunedin.
Tickets available from www.undertheradar.co.nz ($10) and on the door ($15).
• Heads Up hip-hop show launch, tonight at Queens (formerly the National), 1 Queens Gardens.
For more information, visit www.facebook.com/headsup03
