Tami Neilson, has collaborated with Neil Finn, the legendary frontman of Crowded House  on her latest single, Neon Cowgirl. Tami and Neil duet on the title track, an autobiographical song dedicated to a younger version of herself: a girl who spent her childhood on the road performing in her family’s gospel band, The Neilsons. The version of herself who left Canada, and her brother and longtime collaborator, Jay Neilson, to build a new life and start a family of her own in New Zealand.

This past year, Tami and her band joined Willie Nelson, and then Willie and Bob Dylan, on select dates on the 2025 Outlaw Music Festival tour. They also played Willie’s Fourth of July Picnic. In 2023, she and Jay played the Ryman for the first time, and in 2024, made her debut at Grand Ole Opry. Neon Cowgirl drops on July 11th via Outside Music.

Tami Nelson on “Neon Cowgirl:”

“I wish I could time travel and play this song for past versions of myself.

“The teenager sleeping on the floor on a mattress after her family band had lost everything. She got a job at the makeup counter of a local pharmacy. Her small paycheque supported all five of them for a while. ‘Fall at Your Feet”’ by Crowded House played multiple times a day through the pharmacy speakers. She sang the harmony quietly, feeling defeated and wondering if she’d ever be in music again.

“The 27-year-old who sat in the audience with her brother Jay in the darkness of Toronto’s Massey Hall, listening to Neil Finn and his brother Tim sing ‘Disembodied Voices,’ a song about siblings. She grabbed Jay’s hand while they both cried, knowing she was moving across the world to New Zealand in just a few weeks.

“Two decades later, I walked through the doors of the Ryman Auditorium to fulfill a lifelong dream of performing on that stage for the first time. Neil had invited me to open for Crowded House —the Kiwis invading Nashville! Jay was by my side, my husband and children in the wings, the Finns watched side stage, the audience were on their feet and the Neon Cowgirl shone down on us all.”

Tami Neilson
Neon Cowgirl
Tracklisting
Outside Music

Foolish Heart
Salvation Mountain
Neon Cowgirl feat. Neil Finn
Borrow My Boots feat. Ashley McBryde, Shelly Fairchild, and Grace Bowers
Love Someone
Keep On feat. The Secret Sisters
You’re Gonna Fall feat. JD McPherson
Heartbreak City, USA
Loneliness of Love
U-Haul Blues
One Less Heart

Tami Neilson 2025 Tour Dates

FRI 3 OCT – Wellington, NZ @ The Opera House Wellington
SAT 4 OCT – Auckland, NZ @ Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre
SAT 11 OCT – Christchurch, NZ @ Isaac Theatre Royal
SUN 12 OCT – Nelson, NZ @ Theatre Royal
FRI 24 OCT – Tauranga, NZ @ Holy Trinity Tauranga

Pre-order Neon Cowgirl by Tami Nelson HERE