She entered Smokefreerockquest from Year Nine onwards on behalf of her school, Bethlehem College. She didn’t get beyond the heats until 2014, when the judges recognised her skill on both guitar and piano, not to mention her powerful voice. She won both the solo/duo category and received the women’s musicianship award.

The prize funded her first song/video ‘Wannabe’, but Lines spent the next two years finding her feet: “I wanted to pursue music, but there wasn’t really a clear pathway. That period wasn’t unproductive – I was writing, playing gigs and slowly figuring out who I was – but I also remember feeling stuck at times, trying to navigate the expectations I’d put on myself while working out where I fit in.”

“I wanted to pursue music, but there wasn’t really a clear pathway”

After high school, Lines moved to Houston for three months to work as a nanny. She met US producer Abel Orta Jnr and decided once she’d written enough songs, she would return for a recording session with him. Two years later, she started a Kickstarter campaign to fund the visit and was buoyed by the belief of her backers. She also had support from her new manager, Mikee Carpinter, who she met when he worked as part of the film crew at Smokefreerockquest.

Arriving in the US, Lines realised many of her songs no longer represented her musical direction and felt “almost like a stale box of crackers”. She ditched some songs and drastically reworked others. Remarkably, she and Orta Jr were still able to complete four songs, with Lines writing new parts on the fly, sometimes calling up her friend Josh Turner back in Mt Maunganui for input.

The first release from these sessions was downbeat pop track ‘Vacant Cities’. She followed it with ‘Never Had Love’, created during a session with Auckland producers Mark Perkins (Merk) and Shannon Fowler (Tom Lark). The accompanying music video looked like it had taken scenes from a quirky indie movie and it helped introduce Lines as an artist with a strong visual sensibility.

Follow-up single ‘My Love’ was released through a one-off agreement with UK label FrtyFve, and she then released a five-song, self-titled EP. However, it came out during the first week of Covid-19 lockdowns, so Lines had to adapt quickly. “I’d spent so much time trying to work out how to do this music thing, only for it all to be tipped upside down again with Covid and lockdowns. I remember doing a ‘better late than never’ online release party, live from my office!”

The EP track ‘Made For Loving’ drew listeners in with its 80s-sounding hook – sizzling synths and a funkily strummed guitar-line – and the song would become her first million-streamer.

“It blows my mind how far and wide this song has travelled. It’s been a slow burner and now has most of its streams from Brazil/South America. To be honest, I have no idea what made it become such an online hit. I do remember writing and recording it all in a day! It now has over six million streams which is insane!”

When Covid-restrictions loosened, Lines booked sessions with Djeisan Suskov – a co-writer on the Benee hit ‘Glitter’ and a member of powerhouse group, Leisure. Lines recalls they were very productive sessions, with many more songs than have been released so far.

“What Djeisan drew out of me was the confidence to say the thing that needed to be said. To really lean into the vulnerability that I very much approach my writing with now. We really focused on the songs themselves, rather than the musical world they were going to live in (which was a pivot to what I had been doing with many other sessions). We knew that if we could write an amazing song on the piano that could stand on its own two feet, then it would be a good one.”

‘No One Knows’ expressed Lines’s frustration at being a people-pleaser

‘No One Knows’ expressed Lines’s frustration at being a people-pleaser who wants to “give out what they think I should be,” though the chorus flipped it into a love song (“no one knows me better than you”). Lines hired Alexander Gander to direct the music video, and he introduced her to Chelsea Jade. Lines admired Jade’s work and the use of movement in her videos, so arranged for her to choreograph a routine, which Jade taught Lines over Zoom.

The resulting video only showed Lines’ face through televisions at first, before she finally appeared doing an unusual series of dance moves. It had an intriguing air of mystery to it and won best music video at the following year’s Aotearoa Music Awards.

Lines kept up the momentum by releasing two more singles recorded with Suskov (‘Call Me By My Name’ and ‘I Got You’) and featured on ‘In Bloom’ by Pacific Heights (the side project of Devin Abrahams from Shapeshifter).

In May 2021 she joined the line-up of the show Tuawahine at the Civic Theatre, alongside luminaries such as Anika Moa, Tami Neilson, and Annie Crummer (plus another rising star, Paige). Each act needed to perform a waiata reo Māori and Lines chose ‘Hine E Hine,’ since she enjoyed singing it in her high school choir. She subsequently released it as a single and recorded two songs as part of the Waiata Anthems project – re-recording her song ‘My Love’ as ‘Tōrere’ and then taking part in a cover of ‘AEIOU’ (a groundbreaking song by Moana and the Moahunters). Lines did more work with Waiata Anthems in 2024, creating ‘Te Aroha Mou’, a rework of her song ‘Made For Loving’.

Over this period, Lines and Carpinter noticed how difficult the Covid disruptions had been for upcoming artists. Their response was the web series INTROS, which saw Lines interviewing emerging female or non-binary musicians, such as Jordyn with a Y and Jazmine Mary. The first series was self-funded, and used a minimal set-up to great effect.

The second season of INTROS was funded by NZ On Air and released in partnership with RNZ and Tahi FM, while the third and fourth season was hosted by Rolling Stone AU/NZ (though the latter was self-funded). Rolling Stone continued to host the fifth season, with sponsorship provided by Spark and Spotify.

Lines recalls: “We wanted to create a platform for artists whose work I genuinely loved – a space to share their songwriting, artistry, and pieces of their own journey. We also realised there was a huge need for resources, mentorship, and access to the knowledge of the artists and industry professionals who had paved the way before us. That led to the creation of Industry Intros, where people like Brooke Fraser, Poppy Reid, and Kanoa Lloyd shared their own journeys, as well as answering some of the big questions that many emerging artists were asking.”

Georgia Lines continued to enjoy working with different co-writers, particularly those that came without preconceived ideas about where the session might go. “For me, songwriting has always been about exploring. It’s about following an idea and seeing where it leads, rather than trying to make it fit into something that has already been decided.”

‘Leave Behind’ was a stirring song about losing her grandfather and was written with Nick Dow and Nic Manders at a Parachute Studio writing camp. Manders would soon become a key collaborator and brought decades of experience, having worked with everyone from Brooke Fraser to Katchafire.

“For me, songwriting has always been about following an idea and seeing where it leads”

Lines also began working with local producer Joseph Farris, who had his own interesting history, which extended back to his career as Ezra Vine. He broke through internationally with his song ‘Celeste’ but only released an EP through his deal with Parlophone UK, before moving on to other projects. Farris created the track ‘Faith’ to provide some Prince-inspired groove to Lines’s music and together they crafted a low-key banger. Up to this point, Lines had gained moderate commercial radio play but ‘Faith’ was one of the most played New Zealand songs on local radio in August and September 2022.

Lines included these songs on the Human EP: “The EP reflects my journey of vulnerability, of learning I am human. It examines love and loss, the deep pain and joy we can sometimes hold in the same breath, and my journey as an artist to explore all of those feelings and attempt to package some of my findings and honest feelings into these songs.”

Lines followed this up the EP Falling, on which she re-recorded five of her earlier tracks with just her voice and a piano – replicating how many were written and how she would perform them at solo shows. As an added bonus, she also brought in local pop star Cassie Henderson to do a version of the Billie Eilish song ‘When The Party’s Over’.

At the 2022 Aotearoa Music Awards, Lines won breakthrough artist of the year and was nominated in the best pop act category.

The speed of Lines’s single releases slowed in 2023, mainly because she was busy in other areas. She performed seven shows in four days at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. After returning home, she was told by her manager Mikee Carpinter that he had received an email from booking agent Larry Webman (Coldplay, MGMT), who had sent staff along to her show. Webman wanted to represent Lines and by November she was undertaking her first US tour, supporting Abraham Alexander.

In the end, she only released two new songs in 2023, but both received strong airplay. ‘Monopoly’ had a thumping pop chorus and was written on her first writing trip to the US in 2022, during which time she met co-writer Jussifer – a US-based Finnish producer (and co-writer with Kelly Clarkson and Demi Lovato). Equally upbeat was ‘Romeo’, written with Farris, which had the high pop drama of a Lady Gaga song.

‘Monopoly’ had a thumping pop chorus and was written on her first writing trip to the US

When it came to creating an album, Lines wanted to ensure the songs would sound cohesive, despite the range of co-writers. She had developed a strong working relationship with Nic Manders so brought him in to help mould the work.

“We wanted it to feel like every song belonged in the same world, even if they explored different corners of it. There was a lot of reworking, rewriting, shuffling, and pulling on threads to make it feel like one complete body of work. Even the smaller decisions ... the microphones we used, the piano sounds we gravitated towards, and the different sonic landscapes we built ... all played a part in creating that sense of cohesion across the record.”

Lines had recently rediscovered the early Disney films which she loved as a child, and they inspired both the sound of the album and its visual look, which drew on “water imagery, florals, and gardens”. For example, the title The Rose of Jericho (2024) referred to a type of desert flower that can survive for months without hydration, but the moment it touches water it is able to recover. The album cover and the music video for ‘Wayside’ riffed on this idea by showing Lines falling into a swimming pool. The album came at a time of personal upheaval for Lines, and she saw the imagery as a “way of visually capturing that journey of revival, renewal, and returning to myself.”

The Disney films also had swooping orchestral scores and that influence is clear on opening track ‘Grow Old Without You’, on which the violins provide a lush bed and occasionally rise up to add a sense of theatricality. It was a somewhat surprising soundscape given the song was originally written with US-based New Zealand pop producer Leroy Clampitt in Los Angeles.

As a whole, The Rose of Jericho comes across like a heartfelt break-up album, though Lines was unwilling to explain the real life inspirations behind the work.

“I was focused on creating an honest body of work that represented the journey of life that was unfolding for me but, when it came time to releasing those songs, I realised people naturally wanted to know the ins and outs. I decided I wasn’t ready to let people into that part of my world. For me, the songs had already said everything I wanted to say. I wanted people to find their own meaning and their own stories within them.”

The final track ‘Grand Illusion’ seems to reflect back on the themes of the album as a whole. Lines explains that it’s essentially about finding meaning in life.

“We often tell ourselves, if I can just get through this pain, this heartache, this tricky season of life, then I’ll be happy. Or, if I can buy that house, achieve that goal, or get to that next milestone, then things will finally feel okay. But ‘Grand Illusion’ is really about learning to be content in the midst of the pain and struggle, learning to find the good in the smallest of things, and realising that life isn’t about waiting for the hard parts to disappear before we allow ourselves to feel joy. It’s about learning to hold both the beauty and the pain at the same time.”

‘The Letter’ also struck a nerve, becoming one of Lines’ most popular songs online, and it was also short-listed for the APRA Silver Scroll award. It set up The Rose of Jericho for a strong showing in its first week of release, hitting No.3 on the charts.

Lines also won “Te Manu Taki Arotini o te Tau – best pop artist” at the 2024 Aotearoa Music Awards, though she was awarded the honour in the week before the album’s release so it was largely judged on her prior work. She gave an emotive solo performance of ‘The Letter’ at the ceremony. The following year Nic Manders won “Te Taumata o te Kaiwhakaputa – best producer” for his work on the album.

‘The Letter’ was co-written with Whakaio Taahi (from Australian band Tonight Alive) and US songwriter Ricky Manning during her visit to the States in 2022 and hinted at how important her connections there were becoming. She returned to the US for a 13-date tour supporting Priya Ragu.

She took on a new challenge at home, booking Auckland picture palace the Civic for a live show “Georgia Lines: Under the Stars with Friends,” which was backed by the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra.

A show at the Civic, “Georgia Lines: Under the Stars with Friends”, was a new challenge

The event went beyond just a live performance. The stage was draped in fabric and at one point the curtain fell so the audience was left to listen to the music with only the stars and clouds on the ceiling above as company. Then rising star Nikau Grace appeared alone in a spotlight, allowing her to fully engage the audience with the song ‘Rapau Te Mea Ngaro’ before the stage was revealed once more, just as Hollie Smith kicked in to ‘Bathe In The River’.

The Red Raven review website captured the evocative aspect of this otherworldly show: “It was an experience that blurred the lines between theatre, soul, and sonic art. The setting felt part-Broadway, part dreamscape. Tiered steps dressed in crimson satin evoked vintage Hollywood opulence, like Madonna’s Material Girl set redesigned by someone with soul and class.”

One striking moment was Lines’s performance of ‘Not By Your Side’ with Teeks. The pair had long discussed working together and finally found the perfect moment to collaborate during The Rose of Jericho sessions, with their twin voices creating a beautifully harmonised vocal line.

Lines released new music in 2025, with The Guest House EP, written in Los Angeles with English producer Matt Hales. Lines met him at a SongHubs event curated by Brooke Fraser. A few months after their LA writing session, Lines met up with Hales in London to finish the project with him.

The EP title came from an unlikely source. She had met Chris Martin at a Coldplay concert afterparty where he recited his favourite poem, ‘The Guest House’ by Rumi. The theme of being open to change resonated with Lines, especially the idea of being open to the different people, emotions, and experiences that came through your life. Lines wanted to embody the ideas of the EP in the visuals, so hired an actual guest house where she stayed for a week with friends, while filming videos for the EP. The delightful 3/4 lilt of the title track saw it gain good pick-up online (having a remarkably long run on Spotify’s Peaceful Pop playlist), while the lively humour of ‘Julia’ saw it become a radio favourite.

In 2026, Lines released a live album and film from her performance at the Civic, though only made it available via Bandcamp.

“There was so much love and care that went into the show and the magic of that evening was something we really wanted to capture in both the live record and the accompanying film. I knew that would mean fewer people would stumble across it than if it had been on every streaming platform, but that was a trade-off I was willing to make. This project was never about chasing the biggest numbers. It was about inviting the people who genuinely wanted to sit with it, watch it, listen to it, and experience it in the way we had intended.”

Lines felt she had begun to outgrow the confines of the New Zealand scene

By this stage, Lines had begun to outgrow the confines of the New Zealand scene. She was so well-known at home that she even appeared as a contestant on Celebrity Treasure Island, raising money for the Women’s Refuge in Tauranga. She had reached the Top 10 three times (The Guest House getting to No.7), been one of the top local acts in terms of radio play, and had won multiple music awards.

Deciding it was time for a new approach, Lines moved to Nashville, saying it “felt like the next step, where songwriting and storytelling are a huge focus and where I could explore songwriting for other artists too. There were opportunities opening up overseas, and being closer to them made a lot of sense. Over the previous five years, I found that whenever I was on the ground here in the US, I was, in essence, ‘closer to the fire’. Being here in person often opened doors that weren’t as accessible from New Zealand, simply due to proximity.”

Living away from home has deepened Lines’s love for New Zealand and she hopes to continue to give back to the next generation of local acts, following from the work she started with her INTROS series. Wherever she ends up basing herself long-term, she wants to keep her focus on making work that she is proud of.

“For me, the goal has always been sustainability, and to actually enjoy the journey – regardless of where it leads. Creating art that is meaningful, real, and honest has always been at the centre of that, and the further I get into my career, the more important that becomes.”