WORD on the street is that we're in for a country music revival this summer.

And while the genre is perhaps best-known for being an American export, Herefordshire is proving it can pack a punch when it comes to talent with its own country music success story.

When the Hereford Times spoke to former Fairfield High School pupil Sasha McVeigh last year, she was trying to raise money through Kickstarter to be able to record her debut album.

Now, that album is complete and set to go on sale next month, while Sasha is kicking off a co-headline UK tour this month alongside American singer, Sonia Leigh.

She's also the first British artist to be signed to the Nashville office of American talent agency, William Morris Endeavour (WME).

"It felt pretty weird," she said. "Especially because we had been trying to get a booking agent because that's such a vital thing to have and we were basically approaching much smaller agencies and weren't really getting much luck with it and almost got to the point of giving up and then we got an email.

"We submitted for me to open for Lindsey Ell, a Canadian singer doing a UK tour, and her booking agent is WME and they must have heard my stuff and liked me and then phoned me. It was definitely like a fairytale."

Sasha's UK and Ireland tour kicked off in London last night but there are plenty of dates left – including a Bristol gig tonight as well as one in Birmingham on April 22.

Copies of her album, I Stand Alone, will be available from the live shows and then will be officially released on May 27.

"The thing is that so much work has been put into this," she said. "It's so great to see it all coming together and hear people on Facebook say they are coming to the shows and how excited they are. It's also really nice to really get to see how much country is really making a come back and that younger people listening to it too.

"The whole point of the genre is all about honesty. A lot of artists generally are quite down to earth, you can't really be a fake person and be in country because I think people catch on to that quite quickly."

Sasha is playing at Exchange in Bristol tonight (April 9) and will be at the Hare and Hounds in Birmingham on April 22.

Tickets for each date on the tour are £7 and can be purchased from SeeTickets, Gigantic or from the individual venues directly.

For more on Sasha's music visit sashamcveighmusic.com/