Tami Neilson Announces New Album "Neon Cowgirl" (ft. Neil Finn, Ashley McBryde, & JD McPherson) & Shares New Single
TAMI NEILSON
NEW SINGLE "YOU'RE GONNA FALL" FEAT. JD MCPHERSON OUT NOW
NEW ALBUM NEON COWGIRL OUT JULY 11 ON OUTSIDE MUSIC FEATURING GUESTS ASHLEY MCBRYDE, GRACE BOWERS AND NEIL FINN
CATCH TAMI ON THE OUTLAW TOUR WITH WILLIE NELSON AND BOB DYLAN
"NEON COWGIRL represents a lifelong dream of chasing Nashville and country music. I’ve loved her my whole life, even when she breaks my heart over and over again."
- Tami Neilson
WATCH THE VISUALISER FOR “YOU’RE GONNA FALL” HERE
Tami Neilson has been called a "fire-breathing R&B belter" Rolling Stone), “a feral Peggy Lee” (Mojo), “an imperious talent” (The Observer) and a "full-tilt badass" (Saving Country Music), electrifying peers and fans worldwide with her powerful, emotive voice and riveting stage presence. Today, Tami is releasing "You're Gonna Fall," the first single from NEON COWGIRL, her hotly-anticipated follow up to Kingmaker. "You're Gonna Fall" pairs Tami with JD McPherson for a country noir song that calls to mind the classic '60s Nancy Sinatra/Lee Hazlewood duets; it will be featured on an upcoming episode of the global TV hit The Brokenwood Mysteries. Other guests on the album include McPherson, Ashley McBryde, Grace Bowers, Shelley Fairchild and Neil Finn.
"I was sitting on my friend Nicole Atkins’ front porch in Nashville, eating pizza while she smoked a cigarette and talked music biz shorthand at the speed of a tiny tornado. She asked me who my dream collaborators would be, I said I would love to work with JD McPherson. She said, 'No way, he’s one of my best friends! He lives in Oklahoma, but he’s actually in town this week, producing Jessica Simpson at RCA studios down the road, let me text him!' It was almost midnight. He responded saying he was just wrapping up and was tired and heading back to his hotel to get some sleep. She then responded with a video clip of me performing at the Ryman, winked at me and said, 'Just wait…' Her phone pinged with a text from him, 'Bring cigarettes.' We met up and chatted about our love of Nancy & Lee and country noir. So, when I wrote this song for the beloved NZ murder mystery TV series, 'The Brokenwood Mysteries,' I immediately asked him if he would be the Lee to my Nancy and he kindly said yes. Another bit of magic whipped up in Nashville by the Neon Cowgirl." — Tami Neilson
NEON COWGIRL will be released on July 11 on Outside Music, with Tami and her band joining Willie Nelson, and then Willie and Bob Dylan, on this year's Outlaw Festival tour. She will also be playing Merlefest, Willie's Fourth of July Picnic, and a few dates at The Grand Ole Opry. In June, Tami will hit Europe for shows in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Her huge, glorious voice and powerful live performances have won the admiration and support of some of country music's biggest names and fans worldwide. Check this space for tour dates: https://www.tamineilson.com/tour
TOUR DATES
*Outlaw Music Festival Tour 2025
THU 10 APR - Brandon, MS @ Brandon Amphitheater
SUN 13 APR - Macon, GA @ Atrium Health Amphitheatre
TUE 15 APR - Gautier, MS @ @ The Sound Amphitheater
WED 16 APR - Huntsville, AL @ Orion Amphitheater
FRI 18 APR - Nashville, TN @ Grand Ole Opry
FRI 25 APR - Wilkesboro, NC @MerleFest
WED 25 JUN - Franklin, TN @ FirstBank Amphitheater*
THU 26 JUNE - Nashville, TN @ Grand Ole Opry
FRI 27 JUN - Memphis, TN @ Radians Amphitheater @ Memphis Botanic Garden *
SAT 28 JUN - Maryland Heights, MO @Hollywood Casino Amphitheater *
SUN 29 JUN - Ridgedale, MO @ Thunder Ridge Nature Arena *
TUE 1 JUL - Oklahoma City, OK @Lucky Star Amphitheater *
FRI 4 JUL - Austin, TX @ Willie Nelson’s 4th of July Picnic
SAT 5 JUL - Dallas, TX @ Dos Equis Pavilion *
SUN 6 JUL - Houston, TX @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion *
ABOUT NEON COWGIRL - BY TAMI NEILSON
The Neon Cowgirl, towering over Broadway like the patron saint of heartbreak in downtown Nashville as she smiles coyly over her shoulder in red cowboy boots, watched me grow up.
Basking in her glow, I walked wide-eyed into the Ryman Auditorium as a 16-year-old, clutching my ticket. Later that night, dreaming of standing on that stage, I drifted off to sleep in the bunk of our home on wheels at the KOA next to the Opry. When I was 18, she saw me flipping through Loretta Lynn CDs in Ernest Tubb Record Shop after performing the breakfast and lunch shows on the General Jackson showboat with my parents and brothers in our family band, The Neilsons. At 25, shewatched me running all over town, meeting up with other songwriters- writing, writing, writing- before I had to fly back home to Canada again. At 30, I returned as a newlywed on my honeymoon, flying in from New Zealand where I’d moved for love,holding hands with my new husband in Hatch Show Print, introducing him to her like a family member. A decade passed without her as I built a life on the other side of the world and raised 2 babies. My heart raced as I returned to her again to showcase at Americanafest, playing to 12 people at 3rd and Lindsley. 5 years and many showcases later, I swear she smiledright at me as I stopped to point her out to my two children as we walked past her, into the doors of the Ryman to finally perform for the first time.
NEON COWGIRL represents a lifelong dream of chasing Nashville and country music. I’ve loved her my whole life, even when she breaks my heart over and over again.
This album came rumbling to life on 6 wheels over the highways of North America. I wanted our children, born and raised in NZ, to get a taste of their Neilson family heritage — a 5-month pilgrimage from coast to coast and back again in a 36 foot RV. It was also my once-in-a-lifetime chance to really give it my all with my career, which I’d built slowly and steadily in small 2-3 week increments over a decade, running back and forth from the other side of the world. Then, only 2 months before our trip, I landed in the hospital for a month, battling for my life in ICU with sepsis. Our trip changed from one of me going fullthrottle to make a good dent in my career to one of recovery and slow healing. It became became a time of embracing life fully and savoring the precious time with my family in a way one does only after a near-death experience. We zig-zagged across the country, from the ghostly halls of Graceland to the technicolor desert of Salvation Mountain, across neon graveyards in Las Vegas to driving alongside herds of buffalo in Montana. I collected the seeds for these songs in each place along the way. When they blossomed, there were crossbreeds of Presley and Patsy, Orbison and kd lang- the blues of Memphis, the twang of Texas, the cinematic torch of Judy Garland on a Hollywood soundstage. But, mostly, it became a love letter to my Neon Cowgirl. Or, more accurately, a lovelorn letter. Because she’ll just keep on breaking a foolish heart if you let her.
