Gin Wigmore NZ regional tour: US-based singer prepares for a return to the adult world

Gin Wigmore is bringing her "bad b****" persona back. Photo / Supplied

Gin Wigmore is preparing for a return to the world of adults.

The Kiwi songstress and self confessed "bad b****" is coming to Havelock North as part of her rapidly expanding regional tour of New Zealand in March.

The tour encompasses five towns across the month, with three extra shows already added.

Wigmore told to Hawke's Bay Today from her young family's base in Los Angeles, that she's preparing her kids for seven weeks away from their mum once she takes the leap into NZ's MIQ.

"I will be doing the tour solo, and keeping my sanity."

Her oldest Pascal, 4, and almost 2-year-old Izaiah ("nothing godlike about him, little terror") will stay with her husband, American musician Jason Butler.

Wigmore first came to global attention after winning the US International Song Writing Competition at the age of 18.

She was the youngest and first unsigned artist to win the grand prize.

She also became the first New Zealand artist to sign to Island Records and has since released four albums to critical acclaim.

Her first album Holy Smoke is certified platinum four times, and her second, Gravel & Wine, is certified platinum twice.

But at home, her singing is a little less appreciated and often trumped by her husband's, she said.

"My sons often say 'too loud Mum, too loud'. I am thrown to the dogs."

The adoration of a crowd at Black Barn could be just the tonic.

"I've played at Black Barn before and it's a gorgeous part of the world, and I am looking forward to getting back.

"It'll be a fun night, we'll have good times, I'll drink a bit too much wine."

Wigmore intends to keep the audience entertained with a mix of old and new tunes.

"I like keeping things fresh, but I also look forward to singing some of the audience favourites like Kill of the Night.

"It's really fun getting into the character of the bad b****."

But she also likes "opening her heart, and letting it all pour out" with songs like I Will Love You.

"It's an emotional song, it's cutting away all the layers, it was written from the core."

She told Hawke's Bay Today she was in the process of writing a song about Izaiah.

"It's kind of loungey, a line from it is: 'nothing can hurt more than a mother who has lost her baby boy'.

"My boy is still around but it is about letting people explore and feel the emotions."

Gin Wigmore played at Black Barn in 2015 and will be playing there again in March, 2022. Photo / Paul Taylor

Wigmore, who has been in the States for nine years and played a couple of shows in LA, "out there in the desert", said it was a "strange" time for music.

"People can perform in the States but under strict protocol, the numbers need to be limited, masks, etc.

"It's a strange, weird time for music and musicians."

She said she couldn't wait to get back to New Zealand and play for an audience, and seeing her parents and eat her mother's cooking.

"It's such a blast to be playing for people who enjoy my music, and without the Covid restrictions we have in the States."

For complete tour, ticket information, visit ginwigmoremusic.com and livenation.co.nz.