Northern Advocate
  • Northern Advocate home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei
  • Kaipara
  • Mangawhai
  • Dargaville

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northern Advocate

Happy return for soul sister

By Lindy Laird
Reporter·Northern Advocate·
20 Jan, 2014 04:30 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

PROUD OF TA MOKO: Renee Geyer, who has a strong Maori following, is the big name performer at a gig at Kerikeri.

PROUD OF TA MOKO: Renee Geyer, who has a strong Maori following, is the big name performer at a gig at Kerikeri.

The grand dame of Australian soul and blues sounds like she would eat reporters for breakfast should they annoy her.

Renee Geyer has a rep for being difficult and I don't think she can sue me for saying that because she even called her autobiography written in 2000 Confessions of a Difficult Woman (co-written with Ed Nimmervoll).

At 10am Melbourne time, Geyer's speaking voice is deep, rich and crusty - I can hear her singing voice in there too, gutsy and soulful echoes of It's a Man's world, Say I Love You, et al - but she sounds a bit fed-up with this publicity process.

I'm calling about her gig next week at the Kerikeri stage of the Summer Soul Train Festival. She's been to New Zealand many times but never to the Far North so will she also be having a bit of a break here, I ask.

"What are you suggesting?" she wants to know. She's a professional, she says. It's her job, not a holiday. If she wanted a holiday she'd stay home.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

But, she adds, she has always had a huge fan base in New Zealand, especially from Maori, during a career that has spanned more than three decades.

"I have a very big, lovely Maori following and I'm proud of it."

She's proud, too, of the ta moko she wears on the inside of her elbow. The Maori component by a ta moko artist from Gisborne symbolises Maui fishing up the North Island, and it frames one Geyer has worn for years, the name Aretha Franklin.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I simply love it, it's so special to me ... my idol surrounded by my favourite audience."

After cracking the soul and R&B scene in Australasia in the 70s and 80s, putting out several successful albums, touring with her own and other bands, and backing some of the world's biggies - Stevie Wonder, Sting, Joe Cocker, Chaka Kahn, Bonnie Rait - Geyer spent 10 years in the United States where she had lots of session work but little chart success.

"I was working pretty constantly and surrounded by the music I love, black music from America."

Early on in LA she made what she now calls a poor business decision in ignoring advice not to put her photo on an album cover.

In her warts-and-all Difficult Woman book, Geyer describes herself as "a white Hungarian Jew from Australia sounding like a 65-year-old black man from Alabama". Her music sounded black and appealed to that audience, but her US record company was afraid listeners would desert if they saw she was a pink-faced blond chick from Downunder.

"I was standing up for myself. In that instance I might have made the wrong decision. In the early days you're prouder of who you are. You learn more as you get older, but even now my attitude is if they want what I do, then what they get is who I am."

They do want what she does, she's about to start on her 26th album. True to herself, she's not a vocal show-off; not into trilling and diving just to show what she can do.

"I sing from the heart. I've got high notes, I've got all sorts of stuff, but I'm not going to use a note just because I've got it."

About getting older, "the voice changes, of course", you couldn't get through without a healthy sense of humour, and you ... hmm. Mellow, I suggest? No, I can feel Geyer prickling over that word.

But our call has gone from cold and careful to chatty and comfortable, and full circle. To be fair, it's early in the day for this gutsy gal, and she's relaxing at home.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"When I'm away from home it's because I'm working. It's a bonus if it's somewhere beautiful, but just hanging out at home is a holiday for me," she allows.

"But this trip over there is a little bit special for me, and I can't wait."

Summer Soul Train Festival: Kainui Road Winery Kerikeri, January 25: Renee Geyer (also Billy TK jnr, Groove Shakers, Jazz Groovers, Blue Pearl, Stevie Rice, Rick Stringer, Juice on the Loose Blues Band and Abbie); Sunday 26, Bayview Hotel, Kaiaua; Thursday February 13, Cosmopolitan Club, Gisborne; Saturday February 15, Murdoch James Estate Martinborough.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northern Advocate

Northern Advocate

Far North homes without power after severe gales

Northern Advocate

'Economic growth is key': Luxon discusses Northland's potential with iwi

Northern Advocate

Northland businesses unite for CCTV initiative to combat crime


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northern Advocate

Far North homes without power after severe gales
Northern Advocate

Far North homes without power after severe gales

More than 170 customers south of Cape Rēinga are still without power.

17 Jul 08:26 AM
'Economic growth is key': Luxon discusses Northland's potential with iwi
Northern Advocate

'Economic growth is key': Luxon discusses Northland's potential with iwi

17 Jul 06:02 AM
Northland businesses unite for CCTV initiative to combat crime
Northern Advocate

Northland businesses unite for CCTV initiative to combat crime

17 Jul 04:00 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northern Advocate e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Northern Advocate
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northern Advocate
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP