Jan Hellriegel……If Not Now, When?
Jan Hellriegel……If Not Now, When?
Jan Hellriegel
If Not Now, When?
After the success of her 2019 ‘Sportsman of the Year’ album, podcast, book and tour, Jan Hellriegel is back with a new show ‘If not now, when?’, which she is taking around the country this September, October and November.
The show is a full entertainment package, with a mix of piano tunes, comedy, stories and some old favourites thrown in for good measure.
The ‘If not now, when?’ tour will see Jan unveiling her new project, which she promises to be an even bigger surprise than ‘Sportsman’ was.
Jan says, “Piano was my first instrument, and I have wanted to do a show like this since I was a kid – I just haven’t been bold enough, so I am hoping fortune does in fact ‘favour the bold’”.
About Jan Hellriegel.
Jan Hellriegel’s love afair with music started when
she learned classical piano as a child, and as a
teenager she took vocal coaching from Dame Sister
Mary Leo, whose protégés included Kiri Te Kanawa.
Her first foray into recording was with her brother
Rob’s band Working With Walt, before forming allgirl
indie pop-rock band Cassandra’s Ears at Otago
University. They developed a strong following, toured
relentlessly and released two self-funded EPs before
disbanding in 1989.
Hellriegel signed to Warner Music NZ as a solo artist in 1990. Significantly, she was their first
local signing and at the time the first NZ female singer/songwriter to be picked up by a major for
a full development deal.
Warner brought US songwriter JD Souther down to Auckland twice to work on material with
Hellriegel but only two tracks resulted from these sessions, and the album was eventually
completed with producers Nick Morgan and Don McGlashan at Phil Rudd’s (AC/DC) Mountain
Road farmhouse studio in early 1991.
In late 1992, Hellriegel’s debut solo album was released by Warner. The single The Way I Feel
reached number 2, and two more singles went into the Top Ten.
That year Hellriegel supported David Byrne, and also opened for The Cure on their New
Zealand tour.
Picked up by Warner Music Australia, Hellriegel moved to Melbourne in 1994, where she was
given a hands-oU deal to work on a second studio album.
The album Tremble emerged in 1995 to critical acclaim in NZ and Australia. It shifted as many
units as the first but wasn’t the blockbuster the label had hoped for. It was too directional for the
public and also, it would seem, for Warner Music.
In 1995 she supported JeI Buckley on his Australian tour, and the next year Buckley called
again to have her on his bill for his next swing through Australasia, which included his
phenomenal show at Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland’s St James Theatre on February 9th 1996.
Returning home to NZ, Hellriegel recorded a more poppy release, Sentimental Fool, but things
weren’t working out and she left Warner in 1997.
In early 1999, Hellriegel self-released the EP ‘Melusine’ through Universal distribution, but,
becoming a little disillusioned with the business of the music business, took time out to have a
family and figure things out a bit.
PRESS RELEASE August 2024
JAN HELLRIEGEL If Not Now, When? New Zealand tour
PRESS RELEASE: Jan Hellriegel – If Not Now, When? New Zealand Tour August 2024
However, Hellriegel kept writing and performing occasionally and in early 2009 went into Neil
Finn’s Roundhead studio with producer Wayne Bell, some of New Zealand’s best players and
a healthy budget, emerging later that year with All Grown Up.
Released on her own label Blind Date, All Grown Up was a commercial and critical success,
with most New Zealand music writers giving it 5 Stars and key reviewers naming it the local
album of the year.
Hellriegel released Lost Songs in May 2013, a collection of previously unreleased tracks and
studio demos that had literally been gathering dust in the basement. With that cleared out of her
system, she began working on new music with top Auckland producer Wayne Bell and her longtime
band: Brett Adams, Mark Hughes and Ben King – and Daniel Denholm, the ARIA/Emmy
award-winning Australian composer/producer who produced Tremble.
In 2017 Hellriegel put her knowledge of the music industry and launched Songbroker Music
Publishing against all odds. It is now one the largest independent publishers in Australasia,
representing songwriters covering a myriad of musical styles. Behind the scenes she is also a
staunch advocate for artists’ rights.
In 2018 she unveiled her most ambitious project to date, Sportsman Of The Year – A Suburban
Philosophy; an album package which also included a podcast on RNZ beautifully produced
book with photos and 12 chapters – one for each song. The release of Sportsman of the Year
was followed by a successful nationwide tour.
(AudioCulture has a handy overview of each song on Sportsman of the Year here).
Currently Hellriegel is working on a new project that she hopes will inspire and delight. After
Sportsman she thought, “what next…gee, I know I can do this…”, so now she has to finish the
job. The ‘if Not Now, When’ tour will give audiences a sneak preview of what is to be unleashed.
Visit Jan Hellriegel’s website for more info.
Follow Jan on Facebook
