Bob McNeill biography
Bob McNeill is a musician based in Wellington, in the North Island of New Zealand. One of the most popular NZ folk artists of the last two decades, his songs have been covered by artists in NZ, Australia, the UK and USA. Described as "timeless" by FolkWorld, they tell unusual stories in unfamiliar landscapes, set in his signature blend of folk and rock influences. New Zealand Musician magazine compared his songwriting to Bruce Springsteen and Mark Knopfler; the Dominion Post likened him to Jackson Brown, James Taylor, Luka Bloom and Dougie MacLean. His latest album TWELVE DREAMS OF THE RIVER was released on 1 December 2025.
Originally from Scotland, McNeill moved to New Zealand in 1998 after a stint in the US. He made most of his mistakes in other people's bands before releasing a series of solo albums, two of which won Best Folk Album at the New Zealand Music Awards ("the Tuis"). His collaboration with Orcadian fiddler Kenny Ritch, Ben the Hoose, resulted in the album The Little Cascade, which also won a Tui.
In 2024 McNeill released Lost Stars, a collection of songs written on the road while touring New England, Nova Scotia and Oregon. Originally recorded as a lockdown project in a makeshift studio, he and Dunedin-based musician and engineer Mike Moroney re-mastered the album in 2024 and re-released it as a deluxe version including bonus tracks that never made the original album, alternate arrangements and new versions of some of his best known songs.
McNeill often plays with longtime collaborator Emily Roughton, a consummate violinist and pianist whose own band Rough Town is a sought-after festival act. Half Light, his duo with Melbourne-based flute virtuoso Rennie Pearson, tours regularly in New Zealand and Australia. They released the EP Air in October 2023.
McNeill's new album TWELVE DREAMS OF THE RIVER was released on 1 December 2025. Recorded in Wellington, the album explores themes of life, age and identity, re-imagined as a trip down New Zealand's Waikato River, with side trips down the Manuherikia, in the South Island, and the Kelvin, in his native Scotland. It's his most intimate work to date, with some of his most beautiful songs. Playing all the instruments himself, he ventures into new territory on bass, piano, Mellotron and Rhodes, alongside his signature guitar playing.