Multiple awards and a very special moment

Sharon Russell performing at the Gold Guitar Awards. Photo supplied by Nicky Coats.

She wasn’t planning to go, let alone expecting to win anything, but Sharon Russell (Wairewa and Taumutu) picked up no fewer than eight awards at the Gold Guitar Awards.  
 
The 49th MLT NZ Gold Guitar Awards are part of the 10-day Bayley’s Tussock Country festival in Gore. It was a record year for the Gold Guitar Awards with 790 entries across all classes.  
 
Sharon, who lives in Kaiapoi, entered multiple categories hoping that by doing so she could also give her grandson Josh Keating’s band exposure if they accompanied her. The band backed all but one of her songs in the classic country music category. 
 
Sharon says winning awards is fantastic but the moment she will treasure the most from the event was performing Hole in My Heart, a song she wrote about her late son, Daniel. 
 
Daniel died in a mining accident in Kalgoorlie, Australia, in 2009. He was 26.  
 
“I didn’t see it coming. It rocked our world,” says Sharon.  
 
“Music saved me when I lost him. It took me two years to finish the song. It’s healing to share it.” 
 
Sharon performed it with her 12-year-old mokopuna Liam Keating and close friend Keinan Ngapo.  
 
Video: Hole in My Heart 
 
“Liam held it together beautifully. He was staunch. I kept looking at him thinking my goodness I’m proud of you,” Sharon says. 
 
She won the Classic New Zealand Song category with Who’s Gonna Love Me Now, another deeply emotional song. Sharon wrote the song with her son Tahu Russell and grandson Josh Keating about their friend Dani Rupene, who had cancer at 23 years old but is now in remission.  
 
Sharon recalls she was with Dani at the hospital, when she looked up and asked her: “Who’s gonna love me now?” 
 
She says holding it together is easy when she is singing these songs, but “I’m a wreck afterwards.” 

'Didn't know I was Māori'

Sharon says being Ngāi Tahu influences her music in a big way. Part of it is the feeling she is catching up on years missed. 
 
“I didn’t know I was Māori until I was in my 20s. I had no idea my father was a fluent te reo speaker.” 
 
The realisation came at the tangi of William Joseph Karetai, known affectionately as Uncle Joe, where Sharon’s father played a big role. 
 
She explains that he had been protecting her and her siblings. “People were being hit if they spoke te reo at school. Dad was told not to speak it.” 
 
Sharon’s has been passionate about Māori culture and language ever since. Her twin sons Tahu and John are fluent speakers, and her daughter Gina is learning. 
 
As for her country music stardom, Sharon says it was a bit overwhelming… and tiring.  
 
“My knees got a bit sore from all the getting up and down off and on the stage to collect awards,” she laughs. 
 
Next year at the 50th NZ Gold Guitars, Sharon will be a guest artist. 

Sharon Russell with her Gold Guitar Awards. Photo supplied by Nicky Coats.