Veronica Fusaro is a long way from her home in Switzerland as she prepares to play an acoustic set in Tauranga this weekend.

It will be just Veronica playing her guitar and loop on Saturday night at the Jam Factory on 17^th Ave.

This is Veronica's first time in New Zealand. She is enjoying every moment of it.

'It's very surreal being on the other side of the planet, but it's very cool. We get used to it sort of, but also not at all, and it's cool being able to play all around the world and share my music with people,” says Veronica.

'Music is something that I really enjoy making, I always used to sing in choirs and school choirs, and school bands, and I just kept doing it and then I started playing the guitar and eventually started writing my own songs. And here I am.”

Veronica released her self-produced EP, Lost in Thought in 2016, and surprised the Swiss music industry by winning the ‘Demo of the Year' at the M4Music-Festival.

She was also awarded ‘Best Talent' by the national radio station SRF3 and was nominated for a Swiss Music Award in 2017.

'The awards that I won with the first EP was really unexpected. I didn't really know about the competitions, but I sent in a song and I ended up winning the whole thing, and then national radio in Switzerland starting playing my songs,” says Veronica.

'That all grew very organically. It was a natural progress and it was so cool and surprising to play more concerts and release a second EP and all of that stuff.”

Saturday night's concert is going to a stripped down versions of Veronica's songs and she says that she is looking forward to playing in the Bay on Saturday.

Veronica recently released a single on October 19, called Venom and will be playing that song on Saturday night as well.

For more information about the concert, head to https://www.facebook.com/events/258441911536669/