Jenny Mitchell Announces Headline Tamworth Show And Drops Digital Deluxe Version Of Acclaimed Album ‘Tug Of War’

Following the announcement of her Aotearoa Music Award nomination, respected alt-country singer songwriter, Jenny Mitchell has scheduled a headline show at the Tamworth Regional Art Gallery. After not being able to attend the Country Music Festival for two years, Mitchell will perform on Friday 20th January with a full band in celebration of her critically acclaimed record Tug Of War. Tickets are available here.

The album has also been released as a digital deluxe edition via Cooking Vinyl Australia and features a bonus track The Bush and the Birds that she recorded with her twin sisters, The Mitchell Twins.

The song is a nostalgic, heart-warming tribute to their grandfather Bruce with the three sisters’ voices lifting up in harmony and Mitchell’s aunty Jill (Jill Larrivee) acknowledging the family’s heritage in te reo Māori. The clip, directed by Mitchell and aunty Jill, includes home video footage from Mitchell’s family, many of whom work on and with the land.

She says, “I wrote this song years ago about the love and respect for nature that my grandad Bruce handed down to the many Mitchells who work on/with the land. We always thought this was one we'd keep "just for us" but realised there are a few people out there with loveable, stoic farmers in their lives. We hope this reminds you of them.”

Mitchell is also thrilled to be nominated for ‘Best Country Music Artist’ (Te Kaipuoro Tuawhenua Toa Tūī) at the forthcoming Aotearoa Music Awards alongside fellow nominees; Tami Neilson, Kaylee Bell (in country category) and Lorde, L.A.B (in other categories). 

The awards take place in New Zealand on Thursday 10th November.

Mitchell grew up surrounded by music and was encouraged by her dad, Ron, as were her sisters, to start singing at a young age. She made her stage debut at four with her dad at the local country music club in Gore in New Zealand’s south. Her father and sisters recorded an EP titled The Grainstore Sessions (Live), and they took it on tour around New Zealand.

She also began songwriting and realised at 13 years old that she wanted to be a singer-songwriter professionally. At 14, Mitchell placed third in national TV show New Zealand’s Got Talent, a formative experience which taught her how to stand up for herself and to believe in the songs she was writing. It also led to the release of her 2015 debut album, The Old Oak.

The first records she owned included The McClymonts and Shane Nicholson – as her parents would bring home new music from trips to the Tamworth Country Music Festival each year – but she also grew up listening to The Chicks, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, and a lot of other American country music. These days, she’s inspired by writers like Gregory Alan Isakov, Jason Isbell, and Lucie Silvas – anyone who sits on the edge of country, she states.  

Mitchell specialised in Gender Studies in her Bachelor of Arts degree, studying the struggles of women dealing with sexism, writing about artists who inspired her like New Zealand songwriter, Tami Neilson, who produced Mitchell’s 2021 powerful and timely single Trouble Finds a Girl.

Her 2018 record Wildfires, produced by Matt Fell, was awarded the 2019 Tui for ‘Recorded Music NZ Best Country Music Artist’, and became the first New Zealand album to receive a nomination for ‘Alt-Country Album of the Year’ at the 2020 Australian Golden Guitar Awards.

This year, Mitchell toured Australia on Fanny Lumsden’s Deep In The Fallow tour and released her album Tug Of War – featuring the singles Snakes In The Glass and If You Were A Bird.

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Keep up to date with Jenny Mitchell on her Facebook page here.