LA-based Brooke Fraser headlines third Winery Tour

Brooke Fraser, Bic Runga and Benny Tipene

The name Brooke Fraser conjures up memories from as far as back as 2003, with her debut album, What To Do With Daylight, which undoubtedly made her a household name.

She may be an international artist, but her roots are firmly grounded in New Zealand.

Currently based in Los Angeles, she has returned home to headline her third Winery Tour - and this time she is not alone, bringing her husband; Scott Ligertwood, daughter; Dylan Wilde and a baby on the way.

Speaking to me from the city streets of Auckland, it is evident she still has a lot more to give.

Since she first burst on to the music scene at the ripe age of 18, Brooke has clocked up a remarkable number of achievements and accolades, as well as releasing five albums to date.

Flags, released in 2010, undoubtedly opened the International floodgates for the humble songstress, with the Worldwide hit, 'Something In the Water', a gold-selling single in six countries.

Her recent album, A Sides, which was released in November of last year is a different one of sorts and spans her 14-year career.

It is her first retrospective album and sees previous singles, like the acoustic pop sounds of Something in the Water, Albertine and Better to the more electronic Kings and Queens, along with her latest single, Therapy - recorded with our very own Joel Little.

"A lot of these songs I haven't played in many years, so having them come back around is kind of cool and you know it makes you really grateful to look back at the catalogue and look back at the songs that people have embraced and to be really grateful to have had that opportunity and now to kind of be playing those songs again I think is really cool.

"I think it was important to spearhead it with a new song as well cause I didn't want to send the message 'hey, I'm finished', cause I'm definitely not. So yeah having the mix of the new as well was really important and I'm really looking forward to playing all the songs on the Winery Tour."

She is a humble songstress, with an unwavering sense of who she is.

She is timid yet strong at heart and her inviting personality makes it hard not to warm to her.

Through all her success, she has stayed true to herself and it is something she attributes to her days in Aotearoa - particularly as a women in the music industry.

"I feel really privileged to have been born and raised in New Zealand and to have begun my career and have my career rooted in a country like this, and I wouldn't necessarily have said this when I lived here because it was all that I knew, but now having lived in other places and living in America now for a few years I understand that the way we as a society in New Zealand view women is actually really different and very good and so I think that I was really privileged to grow up with all these amazing examples of women in music who wrote their own songs, who had strong voices, who know what they were about and what they weren't about and were able to articulate that.

"I think that's such a special thing to have grown up kind of taking for granted that this was just the way things were and then you visit other parts of the world and discover that's not how things are everywhere so I think my experience has been you know really special and has been a great privilege to have experienced that first and foremost here and having that I guess craft my experience and my views kind of going forward and outward."

Music has always been a part of who she is and she doesn't believe it was something she was inspired to get into.

"I think it was something that was kind of always apart of who I was and so as I've grown up and kind of journeyed through being a human and a musician, those influences have kind of been added to I guess over the years."I guess in general I'm really inspired by people who make art and music that's really well-crafted and who manage to stick to who they are and their unique voice and take on things so that's what inspires me.

"I think that all of my songs perform different functions but overall I would say that I hope that I write music that can bring a bit of beauty into the world that can kind of validate people's yearnings and affirm their longings and hopefully bring some semblance of comfort when that seems far off. Hopefully just to make people feel like it's ok to be human, cause that's what we all are.

"I think music and art will hopefully continue to do what it has always done which is to kind of disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed."

The music scene has changed dramatically, with the help of social media, since Brooke first entered it.

I think music itself is always changing and at the same time kind of always going in circles as well, so it's that whole thing, but in terms of the industry, it's changed really dramatically since I first entered it I suppose."

"About 15 years ago you know there was no real social media to speak of back then the internet wasn't as big of a thing and certainly kind of now it's really dominant and the music platforms as well and the ways that you get music to people has really changed so it's been really interesting. I'm really grateful that things were so different when I started and that I've been able to witness such a change, it makes me kind of both grateful for the way that things were and what I had a chance to experience at the beginning, but also the way things are and trying to see the positives in that and ride those waves I guess as an artist."

The Winery Tour will see her go on the road with Bic Runga, whose songs she recalls singing as a child, as well as Bene Tipene.

"We've been together a lot over the past few days doing the rounds of press and radio stations and they're just great people. Obviously Bic has been an influence of mine since I was 12 years old and first started writing songs and Bene, I'm just getting to know, but he's really talented, such a hard worker and such a cool person, so I think we're definitely going to have a real blast over the next few weeks touring the country together."

The tour will see them venture to the Black Barn.

"I've played at Black Barn before and whenever people have asked me what venues I'm most looking forward to playing, it's always kind of number one on my list, so I definitely can't wait to get there and play at that beautiful venue and be in that beautiful venue with those beautiful people, so it's going to be really special."

Brooke is a musician at heart and touring is not always her cup of tea.

"I'm kind of a home body and a bit of an extroverted introvert truth be told, but I do love the Winery Tour because it's honestly it's a really easy tour, the travel's very easy, you're playing in the most beautiful places in the country to just kind of I guess the people of the heartland so for me I always have really fond memories. I've played in most of these places before, if not the venues then certainly the cities and the towns."

When I spoke to her, she was missing her American-born 1-year-old who was yet to be reunited with her mother on her first trip to the country.

"For me it's really special to have my daughter along this time - this will be her first trip to New Zealand. She's still a baby but letting her kind of see mummy working and introduce her to all these places that mean so much to me is going to be really special."

When asked what she wanted her legacy to be, Brooke was at a loss for words and after a few moments of silence produced an answer that truly sums up who she is.

"I guess I hope the fruit of my life would just speak for itself."

Brooke Fraser, Bic Runga and Bene Tipene will perform as part of the Winery Tour 2017 at Black Barn Vineyards, Havelock North, on February 10.