Marlon Williams may be a Kiwi music superstar, but touring solo this summer still petrifies him.
Marlon Williams with RNZ Music 101 presenter Charlotte Ryan. Photo: supplied
"It's terrifying - I haven't done a solo tour in nearly a decade," Marlon told Music 101's Charlotte Ryan.
"I don't even have an opening act - it's just me for two halves of a show."
The tour by the APRA Silver Scroll winning musician will include 26 shows between Auckland and Invercargill in February and March next year.
The Covid-19 pandemic has forced Marlon to press pause on international tours and stay closer to home.
He's looking forward to it, when he's not in a cold sweat.
"One night in every few, I wake up in the middle of the night gasping for air and then run to the piano and go 'oh ok, just do this' and then go 'what am I doing? It's 3am, go back to bed'.
"It's clearly having an impact, but I'm a sucker for punishment," he laughs.
The punishment is likely to end with Marlon performing at sell-out shows and winning prestigious prizes.
His shows have sold out in New Zealand and the USA, since he launched his music career in 2009.
He won album of the year at the New Zealand Music Awards for his first album, Sad but True, with Delaney Davidson in 2015, and repeated the win with his second album, Make Way for Love in 2018.
Marlon Williams (centre) with Canadian dup Kacy Anderson and Clayton Linthicum. Photo: Supplied
Marlon and Canadian song writing duo Kacy & Clayton have just released a new album, Plastic Bouquet.
He says the album gains depth by merging his Pacific-style country music with more traditional country sounds from the Canadian duo.
"They're fifth generation ranchers from Southern Saskatoon, who have been playing that music since they were toddlers, and I've been playing the same music, but from a very different place.
"The compare and contrast effect is a big part of what makes it an interesting album."
He sees Plastic Bouquet as a journey back to the "basics of country song writing and those country duets".
"There was something very cleansing about it, after the personal journey of Make Way for Love.
"It's exploring different characters… using allegory and stories to weave these worlds together, as opposed to being confessions of a heartbroken idiot," he laughs.
Marlon's favourite song on the album is Kacy Anderson's 'Your Mind's Walking Out'. He wrote the treatment for the song's music video, which presents the love story of two dogs trying to reunite. After shooting seven hours of footage, the 2.5 minute video was released this month.
Other tracks include 'Arahura', which Marlon wrote to celebrate the men named Peter who have been like "rocks" in his life, to explore the history of Te Rauparaha, and to recall his mother's luck during childhood greenstone hunts on the West Coast of the South island.
He plans to follow up Plastic Bouquet with two more albums, one in English and another in te reo Māori.
The Māori language album has forced him to look into his own sense of identity as a Māori.
"It's an interesting thing to be delving into, when I can't even think about myself as an identifiable concept, to have to proclaim identity in that way.
"It's important and there's a massive sense of displacement for a lot of Māori. Every Māori does have to go through that if they're wanting to connect with and come to terms with an identity in that sense."
Marlon Williams has won album of the year twice at the New Zealand Music Awards. Photo: Supplied
Catch Marlon on tour:
An Evening With Marlon Williams
Thursday 25th February - James Hay Theatre, Christchurch
Tuesday 2nd March - Glenroy Auditorium, Dunedin
Wednesday 3rd March - Oamaru Opera House, Oamaru
Saturday 6th March - Civic Theatre, Invercargill
Sunday 7th March - Athenaeuem Hall, Arrowtown
Wednesday 10th March - Regent Theatre, Greymouth
Thursday 11th March - Theatre Royal, Nelson
Monday 15th March - Whanganui Opera House, Whanganui
Tuesday 16th March - TSB Theatre Royal, New Plymouth
Thursday 18th March - Municipal Theatre, Napier* VENUE CHANGE
Friday 19th March - War Memorial Theatre, Gisborne
Saturday 20th March - Baycourt Theatre, Tauranga
Sunday 21st March - Leigh Sawmill, Leigh
Thursday 25th March - The Hollywood Cinema, Auckland
Sunday 28th March - The Hollywood Cinema, Auckland
Saturday 3rd April - Opera House, Wellingto
Tickets available via www.ticketek.co.nz
Tickets available via www.ticketmaster.co.nz
Tickets available via www.eventfinda.co.nz
Greymouth tickets available at venue^
