Great North win second folk Tui

Great North

The 2015 best Folk Album Tui has gone to Great North, the Auckland band which was also the winners of the 2013 award.

The band's 2014 third album Up in Smoke was judged the best by Recorded Music New Zealand from a nominees list which also included Rachel Dawick for The Bounty Riders and Flip Grater for Pigalle.

The award was announced during the annual Auckland Folk Festival at Kumeu at the weekend.

Read the TimeOut review of Up in Smoke here

Great North also won the folk Tui for previous album Halves in 2013. The group is led by singer-songwriter and former Herald journalist Hayden Donnell who shares vocal duties with wife Rachel Donnell.

Read Hayden Donnell writing about what inspired the album

Recorded Music NZ CEO Damian Vaughan says Great North has impressed many within the music industry with its strong and varied repertoire.

"It speaks volumes of Great North that they can produce two Tui award winning albums in three years. Halves and Up In Smoke are two very different albums but they both share a resounding quality that's worthy of New Zealand's Best Folk Album."