Recorded Music NZ has announced three finalists for the 2019 Folk Artist Tui Award to be celebrated at the 2019 Auckland Folk Festival on January 27.

Strong newcomers Jono Heyes and The Frank Burkitt Band join two-time Best Folk Artist winners Great North as the 2019 finalists.

Hailing originally from Central Otago, Jono Heyes’ 2017 album ‘9 Pilgrims’ was released in October and features a number of musicians from across the world – including Ireland, Switzerland and the Czech Republic where he currently lives. Over the last 17 years, Heyes has crafted his own folk style, drawing from an array of cultures to create a blend of world music that is an urgent call for ecological, social and cultural understanding.

The Frank Burkitt Band play high energy, original music written by Frank Burkitt himself. The band released their second album ‘Raconteur’ in March 2018, a follow up to their 2015 debut album ‘Fools & Kings’ in 2015. The first six months of 2019 will see them crossing Australasia and the UK, supporting the release of a new live EP ‘Lost But Alive’.

With a career lasting eight years that included a serious tilt at the European market, Great North have proven themselves a very hard-working and successful independent act. Between shows, they released three albums, two of which – ‘Halves’ and ‘Up In Smoke’ – won the Folk Album of the Year awards in 2013 and 2015 respectively. They’re finalists this year for their pre-hiatus album ‘The Golden Age’.

The Auckland Folk Festival is held over Auckland anniversary weekend in late January, with the Best Folk Artist Tui presented on the Sunday evening. Tickets are available from http://aucklandfolkfestival.co.nz/