Tuawahine is returning in early 2023 with three North Island shows during the week of International Women's Day.
After a sold-out show during Matariki this year, organiser Ria Hall is excited to take the kaupapa on the road and inspire and empower wahine across the motu.
"The band are all wahine, the backing vocalists, including myself, we're all wahine and all of the front-facing wahine, I mean that's such a cool vibe. And that's what we're trying to achieve, is to show that wāhine can do absolutely everything.
"We can front a band and go home and mother our children, or we can go put our head into studies or build businesses or what have you."
Headline acts include Aotearoa icons Anika Moa and Annie Crummer, country artist Tami Neilson as well as emerging chart toppers Paige and AMA breakthrough artist of the year Georgia Lines.
Each act will be supported by a powerhouse band featuring Julia Deans and Anna Coddington on guitar and backing vocals, Saylene Ulberg on keys, Marika Hodgson on bass, Naomi Fata on drums and Hall featuring on backing vocals.
Follow your dreams
Hall says after a huge year for wāhine in Aotearoa, capped off by the Black Ferns' Rugby World Cup win, it's important to use that momentum to inspire wāhine to follow their dreams.
"When I was a young girl, there weren't a whole host of wāhine, who looked like me who were front and centre of kaupapa or were being portrayed in many different lights, whether that be mainstream or from a Māori perspective, or from just a general Aotearoa perspective. Tuawahine is an opportunity to showcase power and the prestige of women and what we bring. What we do is so different. Being a woman we present ourselves differently, we speak differently, we sing differently, we play differently. We've just got a different taera [style]."
"With many of our wahine athletes and women who are doing things on their own terms, we've seen the fruits of that labour, and we continue to experience the fruits of those labours. Without it coming across as just this whole mana wahine thing - well, yes it is, but at the same time, it's actually relevant, and it's necessary. That's what I really want to get across to is that it's not just about a whole bunch of women coming together to play some songs. It's actually a lot deeper than that."
Empowering wāhine
While Tuawahine is promoted as a "night out for the ladies", Hall says it is also a space for tāne to enjoy and understand how they can empower the wāhine in their lives.
"In our culture, we hold that innately, ka noho takirua te ao Māori i roto i ngā mea katoa. There's always a duality in our culture, as we all know. This is another example of how that can be played out and how we can work that tikanga into a space like Tuawahine. It's a wonderful thing when men can participate in and joy in what women do, and just bathe and bask in that light."
Since embarking on the Tuawahine journey, Hall says she herself has learned a lot about herself especially the challenges of raising a family of three children while pursuing a music career and studying fulltime.
Feel-good kaupapa
"It takes a village. But it's made me incredibly selective about what I do and what I say yes to. I think there's lots of power in that. I really think that being intentional is something I probably didn't do enough. Time is precious, and my babies are still small and I obviously want to spend most of my time with my tamariki but I also need to do what I do as a wahine Māori and as an artist and curating a show like Tuawahine here has provided me with that space.
"And just surrounding myself with really good people who think along the same lines, or are there to uplift me if I tend to not be in a space that's necessarily conducive to creativity or positivity."
The Tuawhine tour will hit Auckland’s Aotea Centre on March 2, Havelock North’s Black Barn Vineyard on March 3 and round off at Wellington’s Opera House on March 10. Hall says a ticket will make a great stocking filler for Christmas.
"It's time for us to be out and about this summer. We've been in a situation where we haven't been able to do that and to be together and to come together. This is an opportunity to do that. It's a feel-good kaupapa. Who doesn't want to be around great vibes this summer? And it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, to be frank, because it's not often that you see a touring group of only wahine who are playing every single instrument and singing every single song."
