Virginia Claire Wigmore called last week from "the torrential rain of Sydney", her base for the past five years, although she splits her time between the United States and New Zealand more than ever.
The Auckland-born artist behind Under My Skin, Oh My, I Do and Black Sheep is preparing to perform alongside the Mutton Birds and Avalanche City on 14 dates for the sixth annual Classic Hits Winery Tour this month. The tour arrives at Olssen's Vineyard in Cromwell, the nearest venue to Wakatipu, on February 21.
Her set "will be rock 'n' roll and let the audience get up and let loose," she said.
Wigmore last visited Queenstown to show her boyfriend "the best place in New Zealand", last year, which involved skiing and a Shotover Jet boat ride, but her roots in the Wakatipu run deeper.
"It's a bit special, actually, going down there, because I've had a love affair with Queenstown and Wanaka and Cromwell for years. We used to live down there on Panorama Tce for a couple of years and my brother went to Wakatipu High and I was at Queenstown Primary next door.
"Honestly, it was like a dream, because your sports classes were spent up on the mountain in winter and I just thought this was heaven. What kind of school is this? It's amazing.
"It was in primary school I turned to boarding because it was so about crew. Are you the skiers and are you geeks, or are you like the boarders and you're cool and you have a boyfriend potentially [laughs].
"It was quite interesting seeing how much that Queenstown has changed. It is spreading quite far. I remember when Frankton seemed like ages away. Now it's just down the road."
Wigmore saw the Mutton Birds frontman Don McGlashan in passing at events, but missed Avalanche City's rise in popularity while she was overseas. The musicians all met over cheeseboards in the spring and "they seem like a nice bunch of dudes".
Asked which of her songs was maturing like a fine wine, Gin instantly chose breakthrough hit Under My Skin. She was constantly trying to find ways to make it interesting for herself to play over and over and a rockabilly spin had given it new life, she said.
Wigmore agreed the winery tour seemed in keeping with the title of her second album, Gravel and Wine.
The bubbly singing star delved into the deep south of the United States for two months of self-discovery last year, which she described as the best experience of her life.
She travelled alone and put herself in "slightly dicey situations" with people she "went down the dusty road with".
She went to church for the first time, only to discover soul survivor turned reverend Al Green presiding. She discovered Elvis Presley by going to Graceland and Sun Studio.
Asked if the natives were friendly, Gin laughed and remembered meeting an elderly man from Iowa who confidently told our girl he knew New Zealand as "that place connected by this bridge from Sydney to Auckland".
"There's a little bit of that going on, which is quite funny and you've got to set the record straight, but I think the Americans find me quite refreshing because I never really have any boundaries, I'm out there signing and talking with them and having photos and it feels like it's quite rare for Americans to have that accessibility with people who play music, or are on screen.
"I think they can't understand what I'm saying half the time and I think they find that endearing."
The confidence and swagger gained from her overseas experience was channelled into her follow-up album, she said.
America was firmly in her sights, with a six to seven-month tour earmarked this year after she hits the road around Australia following the winery tour. The United Kingdom and Europe were on her radar, but she was figuring out when to take on the Continent.
"It's similar to the States. It requires so much time and energy and real dedication to do it. You've got to live there and traipse around and I've committed to doing that in the States and I'll see how that goes for the next couple of years.
"We'll probably get something out [to Europe] at the end of the year. There's too many countries in the world. I need to clone myself and send them all out."
