Tina Harrod
Tina Harrod was born in Christchurch in New Zealand with an ancestry that certainly indicated she might one day become a professional singer. He father was part Fijian and her great grand parents were from Wales and from her very early days she was surrounded by a rich musical legacy.
It was no surprise then when at the tender age of five Tina began singing in a local church choir as well as taking dancing classes with a ballet group. The seeds had already been sown for a promising career in singing or dancing but for the next dozen or so years Tina was to become more of a listener than a performer.
During her teenage years Tina stopped both singing and dancing but began listening to a wide range of popular Black music as well as the current disco craze inspired by movies such as "Saturday Night Fever". At the age of seventeen she decided on a major move to Sydney where she soon took up waitressing and barwork.
It was in this new environment that her desire to sing and perform was rekindled and she began playing in a band called Modern Man with Andrew Kippel, the son of the famous Australian sculptor. This was the late 1980's in Sydney, a time when the local club and pub music scene was thriving and all kinds of exciting new bands were emerging.
Tina was obviously caught up in the euphoria of this period and began auditioning and singing back up vocals in a number of different groups. By the age of twenty four she had joined the Honey Bees, an all girl trio doing three part harmonies and singing soul in the style of Chaka Khan and other contemporary soul sisters. The group gigged regularly at venues such as Metropolis and Round Midnight and quickly developed a solid following on the Sydney club scene.
As well as performing regularly Tina made a point of catching many of the other emerging local bands and it was during this exploration that she came across Jackie Orszaczky & The Godmothers. Jackie's driving funk and soul outfit were high on the list of Sydney club favourites at the time with their infectious James Brown style grooves and they immediately captivated Tina's attention.
Tina was now twenty seven and spent the next two years as a backup singer with Wendy Matthews and Jenny Morris, touring all over Australia and New Zealand, familiarizing herself with the numerous ups and downs of the local music industry. Although she had previously seen Jackie Orszaczky play with the band Jump Back Jack, it wasn't until she came across another of Jack's group's The Godmothers, that she really got to know Jackie on a musical basis.
The regular Jump Back Jack and Godmothers gigs at the Harbourside Brasserie were a legend in their day, not only for the quality of the music but for the fanaticism of the following who filled the crowded dancefloor week after week. It wasn't long before Tina made the transition from the audience to the stage and at the age of twenty nine she became a regular part of Jackie's latest soul incarnation The Grandmasters.
Tina played with The Grandmasters from 1994 onwards, appearing at clubs and festivals across the country and touring to Budapest in Hungary. The release of the Grandmaster's much acclaimed "Family Lore" album marked Tina's first major recording and won her the attention of music critics and writers across the country.
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