An album, a baby, now a tour

Tami Neilson has received her first nomination in the Silver Scrolls.

Award nomination follows busy year, says Paula Yeoman

Tami Neilson should be exhausted from her year thus far. In March, she put out the critically acclaimed Dynamite, a glorious blend of rip-your-heart-out country, soulful blues and explosive rockabilly, which she accompanied with a sold-out album release tour. Since then she's picked up several awards, including "Best Female Artist" at the New Zealand Country Music Awards. And just months ago, she gave birth to her second child.

"It's definitely challenging and there's a lot of juggling," she says.

But despite the sleepless nights and all the hard work that goes with managing her own career, Neilson's trucking on through; busily planning the rest of the year, which is far from over for this impressive singer-songwriter.

Soon she'll learn if her song Walk (Back To Your Arms) has made the top five in the prestigious Silver Scrolls Awards. She's also about to embark on another tour - this time The Grand Ole Topp'Ry Tour with the Topp Twins.

"It's funny, my newborn will be 3 months by the time of the tour in October, and in my mind I had kind of thought 'Oh, great I have this three-month window, I'm just going to be in the baby bubble and just not be stressed and not work'," she says.

"But I was having one of those moments, you know, hormonal, sleep-deprived, and I was talking to a girlfriend who's in the same boat and she said, "Tami, I don't know where you get off thinking that you have taken three months off ... Somehow you think because you haven't done a gig, you haven't been working."

Neilson, who grew up in Canada and moved to New Zealand eight years ago, has won more awards that she can probably count in her career. But nevertheless, she's honoured to have received her first nomination in the Silver Scrolls, which recognises excellence in songwriting.

"When you've been in the music business your whole life, it can be a very thankless job at times, because you kind of feel like you're working, working, working and kind of one step forward and two steps back," she says.

"But you do it because you love it. So it's really amazing and special when you actually get acknowledged by, not just your fan base, but by your peers and other musicians."