Jul 13, 2025
NEON COWGIRL
"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, she watched 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 once again, to showcase at
Americanafest, playing to 12 people at 3rd and Lindsley. 5 years
and many showcases later, I swear she smiled right at me as I
stopped to point her out to my two children as we walked past her,
through 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 weeks
guest = Tami
Neilson - through much hard work,
fierce determination and drive has begun to make all her dreams
come true.
She is blessed with a voice that's been described
as "a fire breathing R&B
belter" by Rolling Stone.
Tami has now played the Ryman, sung a duet with her hero
Willie Nelson. Travelled the highways and cities of the USA and
Canada in an RV with her NZ family, so they could
experience where she came from and the places on the planet she was
singing about.
Her latest adventure was opening for Willie Nelson and Bob
Dylan as part of the Outlaw Music
Festival. Dreams DO come true.
She's done all this while dealing with health issues and
her brother Jay's recovery from major surgery.