Wanaka’s Jody Direen is in the running for Best Country Music Artist at the Aotearoa Music Awards.

Recorded Music New Zealand and APRA AMCOS NZ recognised outstanding contributions to the Aotearoa country music scene from the past year yesterday (Tuesday May 18).

The finalists for Recorded Music NZ Best Country Music Artist feature Jody for ‘Smokin’ Ashes’ and Tami Neilson for ‘CHICKABOOM’, as well as newcomer Ryan Fisherman for ‘Vibe’. 

Both Jody and Tami are previous winners.

"I'm grateful to be recognised in the industry by Recorded Music and APRA AMCOS and I'm looking forward to performing at the awards,” Jody said.

“It's very clear to me that the country music culture in New Zealand is growing and evolving and I'm happy to be a part of it.” 

Since releasing her debut album five years ago, Jody has been hard at work making music for audiences in New Zealand and overseas.

After winning the Tui for Best Country Music Artist in 2017 for her third album Shake Up, Jody continued to record and tour, headlining her own shows. She performed in Australia's first ever C2C Festival in 2019 with Tim McGraw and is a headline act for this year’s Top Paddock Music Festival in Gore. 

On June 3, finalists of the Aotearoa Music Awards will walk the red carpet at St James Theatre in Gore and perform to a sold out crowd before winners are announced.

PHOTO: Supplied