Bio

DEBBIE HARWOOD After a solid solo recording career which garnered two music awards ‘Most Promising Female Vocalist' in 1985 and ‘Most Promising Group’ in 1987 Debbie Harwood became one part of the Kiwi phenomenon When the Cat's Away that in the late 80s was named ‘Top Group’ at the NZ Music Awards as well as celebrating a gold album and the No 1 single Melting Pot.

The Melting Pot tour was the biggest tour in NZ music history with the band playing to over 80,000 people. When the Cat's Away toured and recorded again in 2001 and 2002 achieving Platinum sales for their live album with Sharon O'Neill and had yet another hit single with 'Asian Paradise'.

In 2003 Debbie headed off to Queenstown for a sabbatical and quietly plotted the recording of her latest recording project 'Soothe Me'. 'Soothe Me', an album of languid jazz, was critically acclaimed and Debbie was a finalist at the 2005 NZ Music Awards in the category of ‘Best Female Solo Artist’.

Debbie has a jazz band and a party band (Debbie Harwood & the Band of Gold) – for hire. She has had a lasting impact on the NZ music scene both as a musician and in management and mentoring roles within the music industry.

She has performed for the Queen and the Dalai Lama and sang on the official song for the Commonwealth Games in 1990. She joined Jimmy Barnes' and Diesel's bands as backing vocalist and toured Australia for two years. Harwood has produced several albums (she was a finalist for 'Producer of the Year' at the NZ Music Awards for her album Peaches) and is currently demoing and recording original material.

Links

• Artist Website