Jackie Bristow

She's a Gore girl at heart, but Jackie Bristow has found the music scene of Austin, Texas, has inspired her latest album, as she goes on tour with two fellow singer-songwriters, she tells Greg Tourelle of NZPA.

Wellington, Feb 5 NZPA - Jackie Bristow is in a rush. Her Saints and Sinners tour with fellow singer-songwriters Tami Neilson and Lauren Thomson has just started and the release of her third album is imminent.

"It's all flat out at the moment, but I'm loving it. I am so thrilled to be back performing in New Zealand," says the Gore-born, Austin Texas-based singer.

The Saints and Singers tour began in Hamilton last night and plays in Raglan tonight, before taking in 10 other centres as diverse as Auckland and Moeraki, north of Dunedin.

The genesis for the tour came from an exchange on social networking site Facebook.

"I put a comment on Facebook, saying I was thinking about booking some shows in New Zealand and hitting the homeland and Tami, who I had met once before, said hi and we started chatting and it developed from there.

"I didn't know Lauren but I checked out their music and we thought it would be a nice way to join forces."

It's a writers-in-the round show, with the trio collaborating on each other's songs, chiming in with harmonicas and guitars as well.

"We are all singer-songwriters and all a bit rootsy. Tami is more country, Lauren is more folk and I am pop-folk and some of my stuff is rockier. It fits really well -- we all have a soulful sound to our voices."

They also share their experiences on stage. Neilson, who won the Tui Award for her first album Red Dirt Angel, once opened as support for country legend Johnny Cash; Thomson, an Apra Silver Scroll nominee in 2008 for the title track on her EP, Our Love Is Due, is making her mark on Auckland's live circuit; and Bristow, who has opened for Art Garfunkel, Madeleine Peyroux and Daniel Lanois, cheekily won Tourism Australia's competition for a national song, .

Bristow says they are eschewing the big bars and playing in "nice venues -- listening rooms" so they can interact better with their audiences.

In between gigs, she is bustling about promoting and doing the distribution work for her album Freedom, due out on February 17, which she describes as "an ode her homeland."

When Bristow last performed in New Zealand, late in 2007, she was based in Los Angeles and had just completed her second album Crazy Love.

She has since shifted to Austin, the live music capital of the world, and says it has been a boon to her career.

"Living in Austin has been the best year of my life. I was embraced by the local music scene there really quickly and it has had a huge influence on me at every level."

The album is an international effort, mostly recorded in Austin, but completed in Sydney late last year.

Bristow produced it with her long-time guitarist Mark Punch, an Australian who toured with Joe Cocker.

"It's more rockier than my previous work and the songs delve deeper. I'm quite excited because I don't have a label this time and it is the first time I have produced an album. It's the best thing I have ever done."

Musicians on it include Jeff Young, who toured with Steely Dan for years, on piano, and JJ Johnson, who plays drums for John Mayer, while backing singers include Mahalia Barnes, daughter of Jimmy, Gary Pinto and Gary Clark Jnr.

Bristow, who and her Sydney band will give her new songs a blast at the Hokonui Moonshiners Festival in her home town of Gore on February 27.

"It's going to be fun; Mum and Dad say it's going to be a huge day."

But first it's the Saints and Sinners tour.

And that title?

"We thought it represented our music -- the highs and lows, the good and bad, the up and downs of life."

And who are the saints and who is the sinner.

"If people come to the show, they'll find out who."

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Saints And Sinners tour dates.-

Feb 5 - Orca, Raglan

Feb 6 - Juice Bar, Windsor Castle, Auckland

Feb 7 - Salut Bar, Whangarei

Feb 11 - Mighty Mighty, Wellington

Feb 12, Lounge Wine Bar, Carterton

Feb 13, Wgton Bluegras Society, Petone

Feb 14, Harbourlight Theatre, Christchurch,

Feb 16, Chicks Hotel, Dunedin

Feb 17, Fleurs Place, Moeraki

Feb 18, Little Theatre, Gore

Feb 19, Reportory Theatre, Invercargill.