Back in the early ‘70s, Rosa Shiels was a regular on the Christchurch folk and blues scene, appearing in concert and on TV’s Pop Co, before joining the cast of promoter Harry M. Miller’s original Australian production of HAIR when it toured New Zealand. Rosa stayed with the show till the end of its run 14 months later, and then joined the cast of the original Melbourne/Sydney stage production of Jesus Christ Superstar as well as a 1974 production, which toured Australia and New Zealand. Rosa continued living in Sydney, where she split her time between music -- concert and album backing vocals (Jon English, Marcia Hines), solo and duo work, and session singing -- and magazine journalism, including several years with Conde Nast Publications which publishes all the Australian Vogue titles. She was one of two backing vocalists for Grahame Bond’s Aunty Jack Show, performing on the concert stage of the Opera House three weeks after it opened in 1973, and she recorded the vocals for her song, Dead Easy, which is the title track of the 1987 Australian movie. Since moving back to New Zealand in 1992, Rosa has appeared in concert and at various festivals, including the Christchurch Arts Festival, the Christchurch International Jazz & Blues Festival, Blues Brews and BBQs, Summertimes in Hagley Park, the Festival of Romance, as a guest in national folk music festivals, and on Radio NZ live. A freelance writer, specialising in fine arts and music, Rosa ghostwrote the autobiography of Christchurch jazz-piano legend Doug Caldwell in 2010. Rosa co-released Winter, a live in-concert album, with guitarist Graham Wardrop some years ago, and released her first solo album featuring mostly original material in 2009. She is currently working on her second album.

A voice like good Bourbon … full of that sweet sadness of the blues