Anika Moa - Bringing Aroha to Aotearoa

The days are getting longer and Anika Moa is celebrating with the Aroha Tour 2009 that will take her from as far south as Rakiura/Stewart Island to as far north as Kaitaia, taking in 24 destinations along the way. As well as touring the main centres of Aotearoa, Anika will be playing to ‘heartland’ audiences at venues in small towns including Akaroa, Ranfurly, Granity, Raglan, Featherston, and Havelock North.

Anika will be accompanied by a small band that includes two of New Zealand’s finest musicians: bass player Chip Matthews (New Loungehead, Opensouls) and drummer Nick Gaffaney (Solaa, Jan Hellriegal). Playing support is Julia Deans, the charismatic lead singer of Wellington band Fur Patrol, who will be showcasing songs from a debut solo album that she has recently begun recording.

Anika’s third album, In Swings the Tide was released in October 2007, and a year later Anika won Best Female Vocalist at the 2008 Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards. Since its release the album has gone close to double platinum in sales. That In Swings the Tide was written during an intense time of change and growth is evident in songs such as ‘My Old Man’, ‘Blind Woman’ and ‘Dreams in My Head’, a song which earned Anika a nomination as a finalist in the APRA Silver Scroll Awards 2008.

Anika says that writing In Swings the Tide was cathartic, but that the “dust has settled and it is time to move on.” She has been working on some “fresh” new songs over winter, which she will be road-testing on the tour. “I’m a writing factory right now,” she says. “So it’s all fun and roses.”

Anika says that “the new songs are mostly about love. Love songs are the best – and sometimes the worst, but for me, the best. On the tour, I’m going to perform most of the new songs and I’ve even gone electric, as in electric guitar-ing. I call it doing a Dylan.”

Anika is a gifted performer, entertaining her audience with her down to earth stories, delivered with a dimpled grin and a cheeky mainland accent. As outspoken and funny as Anika can be however, it is her beautifully crafted songs that take centre stage – candid musings about love and life, sung with the raw emotion that inspired them.

As well as the new songs, Anika will be showcasing favourites from a career that began with winning Most Promising Female Musician at the Smokefree Rockquest in 1998 and has included the critically acclaimed albums Thinking Room (2001) and Stolen Hill (2005). Anika’s fourth album is planned for release in March 2010, but right now she is “buzzing on the tour”.

“I tour at least twice a year around Aotearoa. It’s a good excuse to meet quirky people on the road, eat some yummy local kai and fall in love with my fellow musicians and the beautiful crowds we’ll encounter,” she says.

So celebrate the start of summer with a night to remember – Anika Moa, Julia Deans and friends are bringing the Aroha Tour 2009 to a (small) town near you.