Rotorua songstress Elizabeth Marvelly is kicking off her Heartland New Zealand tour in her home town.
Marvelly said she was looking forward to performing in the smaller centres such as Rotorua, Tauranga, Whakatane and Taupo, giving local supporters a chance to hear her sing.
"This tour is about me going back and reconnecting with all the audiences who supported me since the beginning, especially around the Bay of Plenty."
Marvelly, who lives in Auckland, said it was symbolic to be returning to Rotorua where she was considered more than just a star performer.
She received a Rotorua Community Leadership Award last year for performing arts leadership, saying it was an honour and came as a shock.
"I felt really honoured by the award and stunned as well. Being called a role model is quite a hard thing to get your head around but if, in any way, I can have an impact on young people then that is quite a bonus for me."
Marvelly will open her tour on Sunday at the Civic Theatre in Rotorua. She will introduce audiences to some of the new material she's working on for her third studio album. She has mixed feelings about performing the new songs.
"I connect differently with a song that I have written. It is a lot more terrifying to sing your own songs because it is all you. You're putting yourself out there."
When she sang covers, Marvelly said people generally knew the song and could connect with it, but when it was a new song sometimes it took two or three attempts to make that connection.
She said her highlight of 2012 had been working on her new album, which she labelled her "writing debut", but come Sunday, she hoped to make the concert her memorable occasion of the year.
She said her new album, which she hoped to release early next year, may include up to 12 of her original songs, which was a far cry from her last album which included just one.
Marvelly will be accompanied by some of New Zealand's best musicians including maestro Carl Doy and violinist Ben Morrison.
Marvelly sang the national anthem for the New Zealand versus Ireland rugby game at Westpac Stadium in Hamilton recently, a performance that comes as second nature to the star who has sung in stadiums around the world.
"I've never sung at Waikato Stadium before," she said. "But I always enjoy singing at big games."
Marvelly plays nine other locations around the North Island. Tickets for her Rotorua concert are available from Ticketmaster.