KT Tunstall relaxes in Auckland before heading to the Coromandel for a festival. Photo / Janna Dixon
Scottish singer-songwriter KT Tunstall is hoping one of her songs helps the Democrats win the US election - but she doesn't necessarily support the candidate using it.
Tunstall's hit single Suddenly I See is the theme for Hillary Clinton's bid to become the Democrat party's candidate for the
White House, but the 32-year-old said she would support Barack Obama over his rival.
She said she favoured Obama because he had always opposed the war in Iraq.
"It's a bit nerve-wracking, but at the end of the day I'm not going to call up and say don't use it," she told the Herald on Sunday before appearing at Bluesfest New Zealand in Whitianga last night.
"I feel strongly that the world would be in a safer place if it was a Democrat government in the States."
This is Tunstall's first visit to New Zealand, and she said her initial impression of the country was that it was "great".
The talented musician won Brit Awards for best female solo artist in 2006 and 2007 and was the UK's top-selling female artist in 2005.
She has worked hard for her success, touring internationally and doing countless interviews to promote her albums Drastic Fantastic, Acoustic Extravaganza and Eye to the Telescope.
"I get really annoyed when people insinuate that pop stars sit around and do nothing, because it's just not like that."
But she had no complaints about travelling the world for her job, after spending time in Japan, Perth, Sydney and Melbourne before her two-night stay in New Zealand.
Although she is often categorised as a rock or folk singer, Tunstall was excited about performing at a blues festival, and listed several blues singers who had inspired her sound.
"If you strip away everything, I'm always going to be a folk-driven musician, it's kind of where I came from," she said.
"So no matter how electronic or electric or amped up I go, it's always really just me and an acoustic guitar as the basis of what I'm doing."
