Winners Announced At Country Music Honours

23 May 2025

2025 APRA Best Country Music Song Award winner – Holly Arrowsmith
MLT Songwriting Award winner – Nicola Mitchell, Em-Hayley Walker & Byllie-Jean Zeta Tami Neilson recipient of inaugural award

Top country music artists from across Aotearoa gathered in Gore this evening for the prestigious Country Music Honours, celebrating finalists and winners with the presentation of the 2025 APRA Best Country Music Song Award, Country Music Honour for the MLT Songwriting award and the inaugural Country Music Honour for Contribution to Country Music in Aotearoa.

The glamorous red-carpet event marked the official opening of the Bayleys Tussock Country Music Festival — a 10-day celebration of all things Tussock Country. The audience was treated to performances by special guest Tami Neilson, alongside finalists Holly Arrowsmith, Mel Parsons, and Nicola Mitchell and more.

APRA Best Country Music Song Award winner

• ‘Blue Dreams’ written and performed by Holly Arrowsmith

Country Music Honour for the MLT Songwriting Award

• WINNER: ‘Wā/Time’ written by Nicola Mitchell, Em-Hayley Walker & Byllie-Jean Zeta, performed by Nicola Mitchell
• RUNNER UP: ‘A Short Time’ written & performed by Lachie Hayes

Country Music Honour for Contribution to Country Music in Aotearoa

• Tami Neilson

South Island songwriter Holly Arrowsmith was presented as the winner of the 2025 APRA Best Country Music Song Award for the title track from the 2024 critically acclaimed album ‘Blue Dreams’. Having won first in 2019 with ‘Slow Train Creek’, and most recently in 2024 with ‘Desert Dove’, the Aotearoa Music Award finalist & Taite Music Prize nominee, won with the moving song ‘Blue Dreams’, that delves into life as a first-time parent, surviving those early days of chronic exhaustion while managing the huge burden of responsibility, bringing life into such a turbulent world.

The prestigious Country Music Honour for the MLT Songwriting Award, which celebrates unreleased original songs from Aotearoa, was awarded to Nicola Mitchell, Byllie-Jean Zeta, and Em-Hayley Walker (Theia, Te Kaahu) for their waiata ‘Wā/Time’ performed by Nicola Mitchell. All three are wāhine Māori with distinctive musical styles. Their collaboration on ‘Wā/Time’ reflects a powerful fusion of their unique voices and a shared cultural vision.

Lachie Hayes was named runner-up for his heartfelt song ‘A Short Time’, earning recognition for his songwriting talent in a highly competitive field.

In a special addition to this year’s awards, audiences witnessed the emotive debut of the Country Music Honour for Contribution to Country Music in Aotearoa. The inaugural recipient of this award was the acclaimed Tami Neilson, recognised for her outstanding impact and unwavering dedication to the country music scene in Aotearoa New Zealand - with particular focus on the opportunities Tami has selflessly created for the emerging artists around her. As Neilson stood on stage to receive the surprise Honour, a video celebrating her career moved many in the theatre to tears — featuring audio tributes from Jesse Mulligan (RNZ), fellow New Zealand country artists, her Canada-based brother Todd Neilson, and Willie Nelson.

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