Snapchat: Tami Neilson - country and soul singer/songwriter on growing up in a family of touring musicians

Tami Neilson says her dream gig would be playing the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. Photo / Supplied

Each week the Herald's entertainment team asks a different celebrity to share key moments in their life and career. Today, country and soul singer/songwriter Tami Neilson.

My first job was… singing in my family band, from age 11. Me and my brothers used to get $20 a show from Mom and Dad ⁠— such riches!

It taught me… that you don't make much money as a musician! If I can pay myself $20 after all the expenses today, it's a good day! In all seriousness, being raised in a family of professional touring musicians, I knew from a very young age that it was a whole lot of work and not a lot of glamour, so it prepared me for the realities of the business side of music. Watching my dad write and record the music, create the artwork for album covers and posters, book the shows and the accommodation, load the gear, run sound from the desk that was always set up next to him on stage, entertain a crowd and connect with the audience, pack down and drive the tour bus was a first-hand education and equipped me with the tools I needed to do it myself.

My big break came… There's no such thing as a big break. It's years of small steps forward, big steps backward, big opportunities lost and small opportunities gained and finding joy in doing what you love no matter the outcome ... and not giving up.

The last job I quit was… I was working as a secretary for a tech company when I first moved to New Zealand and didn't know anyone in the music business until I got a gig at SkyCity in a covers band on the weekends, four-hour sets from 10pm-2am. I quit the office job once I was making enough with my singing to replace that income.

The most famous person I've ever met is… Johnny Cash.

He was... larger than life and dressed head to toe in black in the miserable summer heat at a festival we were playing. I was too shy to talk to him, but my dad and brother did and he was funny and cheeky with a sly smile. He had this calm and steady presence while still radiating charisma.

The best time I've had on stage was… with my family. I'd give anything to look over and see my dad on stage with me again. My brother Jay and I recently played Massey Hall, an iconic Toronto venue that every Canadian kid dreams of playing one day. I burst into tears at soundcheck as I walked on to the stage. During the show, Jay had my dad's framed photo propped up on his amp on stage with us and we kept looking over at each other with 6-year-old-kid smiles.

But the worst was… There are always those gigs where you're in a windstorm or torrential rain or heat so bad you think you're going to pass out, or the ones where people talk loudly the entire time, or the ones in the Czech Republic where nobody understands a word you're saying and they stare at you with blank-faced, stony silence, or the ones where you have to walk through a horse corral full of manure in full sequins and heels to get to the stage ... but, having a man yell out a derogatory comment about my weight in front of the entire audience after I'd just had a baby is the specific one that springs to mind.

My dream gig would be… playing on the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. That's been at the very top of my bucket list for 30 years.

• Tami Neilson's latest tour starts in Dunedin tonight and continues in all major cities, including Auckland on Sunday.