AudioCulture Iwi Waiata Proudly Presents The Aotearoa New Zealand Country Music Collection

For Te Marama Puoro o Aotearoa NZ Music Month 2026, AudioCulture Iwi Waiata is thrilled to share something very special: the Aotearoa New Zealand Country Music Collection.

Country music was a perfect fit for New Zealand when it arrived in the late 1920s: the population was more rural than metropolitan, and working on farms was far more common than working in factories.

Efficient shipping also helped overcome Aotearoa’s “tyranny of distance”, meaning that people could keep up with musical innovations from the UK and USA.

Country music was borrowed, blue and lonesome – and support for it has never wavered. In fact, it’s undergoing a massive surge worldwide, reflected here in the rise of stars such as Tami Nielson and Holly Arrowsmith, and the launch of radio station iHeartCountry in May 2025.

The AudioCulture Iwi waiata Country Music Collection traces the history of country music in New Zealand from the 1920s to today, and with over 110 articles, it is quite possibly the most thorough overview of local country music available to date.

In a neat twist, most of our country music articles were written by musician Glen Moffatt, who grew up in Napier immersed in country music – and now Moffatt himself is being inducted into the Gold Guitar Awards Hands of Fame on May 31st, alongside Kaylee Bell. Moffatt’s beautiful song ‘Somewhere in New Zealand Tonight’ shows how Aotearoa musicians became confident in singing with a New Zealand accent, and with local references. 

Country music is a broad church, and The Aotearoa New Zealand Country Music Collection takes in the genre’s many manifestations, including traditional country music, bluegrass, and the alt-country realm of Delaney Davidson and Mel Parsons.

From New Zealand’s first country music star Tex Morton to much-loved Māori entertainer Dennis Marsh, and from the hugely popular TV show That’s Country to our own country superstar Kaylee Bell, there’s so much to find here.

AudioCulture Iwi Waiata is “the noisy library of New Zealand music” – an online celebration of the people who have created the music, the scenes they shaped, and the audiences they played to.

AudioCulture Iwi Waiata is funded by NZ On Air, and produced by the Digital Media Trust alongside screen heritage site NZ On Screen. Visit us at www.audioculture.co.nz

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