Walker drawn by fan factor

Stan Walker is keen to meet his Wairarapa fans.

His upcoming concert at the Masterton Town Hall will be his first visit to the region.

Walker said he was looking forward to meeting new people and new fans in Masterton and wanted to experience everything Wairarapa had to offer.

The 22-year-old Australian-born artist, who was brought up in Mount Maunganui, says taking his nationwide tour to regional areas is important to him.

Masterton is just one of 23 shows around the country that Walker will perform throughout September and October.

"I'm from a little place myself and I think it's important to be able to get to as many places as possible, not just the big centres," Walker said.

Walker rose to fame after his Australian Idol win in 2009.

He has sold more than 170,000 singles and nearly 100,000 albums to date, and has five New Zealand Music Awards.

Walker played the lead role of Turei in the feature film Mt Zion and his single from the film, Take It Easy, was No1 on the New Zealand charts.

He is now a judge on primetime TV show The X Factor New Zealand, which he said had been an "emotional rollercoaster".

Despite having no acts left in his category, the over 25s, after losing Anna Wilson several weeks ago, Walker said being on the show is "the bomb, I love it".

The Masterton concert is on September 17.