31 January 2012 - 1 Comment
Amiria Grenell’s second album ‘Three Feathers’ is the winner of the Best Folk Album Tui for 2012.
The Tui for the Best Folk Album has been presented tonight (Sun. 29 Jan, 2012) by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ) at the Auckland Folk Festival in Kumeu (West Auckland). The other finalists were Mel Parsons from Westland and Otago quartet The Chaps.
Lyttelton-based Amiria recorded ‘Three Feathers’ at the Grenell farm in Whitecliffs and family links run thick through the recording with brother Redford featuring on drums and guest appearances from partner Tola and Grenell’s father, New Zealand country music legend John.
Other featured artists on the album include family friend Brent Thompson, Mara TK, Mark Vanilau, Tamara Smith, Gerard Masters and Jessie Moss.
Released in September 2011, the album’s title track and another track ‘Wind Blows South’ are dedicated to a friend of the artist who died from cancer at the age of 22. ‘Three Feathers’ ranges stylistically from folk to reggae, country to blues.
At age 10 Amiria played the violin, she also began playing the guitar and making up her own chords. Her first performances were at folk festivals in the Blackboard Concerts, where she sang original songs about animals and saving the earth.
Amiria is inspired by nature, world issues, being a young parent, her friends, family and Aotearoa. Her inspiration for song writing is also said to stem from growing up in a musical family.
Her first EP, ‘Cola Monti’, was released in 2005 and the following year she made her first full length album, ‘Kapowhai’.
Amiria has since graduated from NASDA (National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Art) with a Performing Arts Degree and currently lives in Lyttelton.
RIANZ managing director Chris Caddick offered his “sincere congratulations” to Amiria, “‘Three Feathers’ is a truly superb album. We hope this fully deserved Tui will encourage more people to discover this gem of New Zealand music.”