YESTERDAY was a big day for Bathurst songstress Kaylee Bell, for more than one reason.
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The 2013 Toyota Star Maker winner was Queensland-bound for the 10th annual Urban Country Music Festival in Caboolture.
Country music royalty Lee Kernaghan, John Williamson and Troy Cassar-Daly are headlining the three-day event, with Amber Lawrence, Chelsea Basham and our Kaylee also listed as feature artists.
Kaylee will play on the main stage this afternoon, with more gigs over the weekend.
The Caboolture festival holds special significance with the New Zealand-born beauty – it’s where she made her first musical appearance in Australia after crossing the ditch two years ago.
“Two years ago, I was playing on a backstage. This year I’ll be on the main stage, which I’m beyond excited about,” she said yesterday.
“Winning Toyota Star Maker means I have a head start to a career in country music. It has definitely given me a lot of exposure, and it’s opened up opportunities to play on main stages across the country.”
Yesterday was also the highly-awaited iTunes launch of her new single Heart First. She will play it live for fans for the first time this afternoon.
“The song is about relationships, it’s about jumping in and not looking back,” she said. “I hope people can relate to it.”
On the track, the rising star shows she can match it with the likes of Faith Hill and Carrie Underwood.
“I’m heavily influenced by those artists and, for this album, I wanted to do contemporary country with a pop element,” she said. “I’ve got some really good players from Nashville on the track.
“I’m really excited for people to hear it.”
Kaylee will spend the next two weeks in the Sunshine State recording the rest of her second album, which follows on from her successful debut Wayward.
The album forms part of her prize as the 2013 Star Maker. It is being produced by Andrew Cochrane and features pedal steel guitar by Rascal Flatts’ touring band member Travis Toy.
“I’ve got eight more songs to record, and I’ll also be filming the video for Heart First,” she said.
Heart First is available on iTunes now.
