Recorded Music NZ have announced the finalists for the 2023 Best Folk Artist Tūī | Te Kaipuoro Taketake Toa.

The three finalists are Butter Wouldn’t Melt, Mel Parsons and T-Bone. The winner will be presented with the Tūī on 29 January, at the 2023 Auckland Folk Festival .

First-time finalists Butter Wouldn’t Melt are nominated for their debut album ‘1931’, with songs about important moments in New Zealand’s history, including Eve of 31, written about the Napier earthquake and The Tunnel about the ghost of Wellington’s tunnel. Their material is presented with a unique blend of folk guitar, dulcimer, whistles, double bass, bodhran and countermelodies.

Mel Parsons’ 2020 album ‘Glass’ Heart won her the Best Folk Artist Tūī, and she has also been an Aotearoa Music Awards finalist in 2010 and 2012. The Lyttleton-based singer-songwriter is back with her 2022 album ‘Slow Burn’, featuring Parsons’ signature indie-folk sound with smoky vocals and great lyrics prowess, produced by Josh Logan.

Wellington-based acoustic music outfit T-Bone have been plying their eclectic Americana blend of zydeco, old-time blues and bluegrass for several years, and in June 2022 the five-piece released and toured their debut album ‘Good ‘n Greasy’.