A genre defying songstress of blues, soul, and country rock/Americana, Catherine Tunks is redefining the boundaries.
A prolific NZ songwriter (Te whanau a Apanui/Whakatohea) and self-described musical gypsy, she has performed and recorded in Ireland, Germany, the South Pacific, and the US. Receiving two song-writing award nominations (ISC / Waiata Maori Music Awards), always ready with a guitar in hand and an ability to tell a travellers tale through her sultry and heartfelt vocals. Catherine has become NZ’s own queen of the American ‘Southern Soul’ - a crossover of the country/blues and gospel’ genre.
A true crossover artist - and vocally trained in Jazz, she has travelled the world as a performing and recording artist with three acclaimed albums, an impressive list of festival appearances and collaborations with musicians from all over the globe. (Arli Liberman/Israel, Thomas Koenig/Germany, Stefan Nagler/Germany, Jon Sanders/Ireland) to name a few. Whether solo or with her stellar live band combining pedal and lap steel, hammond organ, hypnotising guitar accompaniment and vocals that soar through many moods, Tunks can give her live audience a seduction that comes only from a life well lived on and off the stage.
With a rock n roll edge in the mix that stems from her thoroughbred west Auckland roots, she evokes the style of big voiced gals with attitude, one can hear influences from Bonnie Raitt, Susan Tedeschi, Etta James to Emmy Lou Harris. Just a dusty road away from Tunks’ jazz-soul days with her infamous former NZ group ‘Black Sand Diva’.
Joined with the iconic sound of gun slinging guitarist Gavin Dowling by her side, along with a heavyweight rhythm section, Catherine Tunks & her ‘Bona Fide’ boys are currently touring Nationwide throughout 2020 for their ‘Stranger’ Album Release Tour. “A genre defying songstress of blues and country rock infused soul... with her bona fide band of brothers, they make one hell of a road trip...........with the boys in the backseat and mama firmly at the steering wheel ” - The Fringe
STRANGER the 7track album release 13 11 2019
