UK singer-songwriter Hayley McKay has achieved international recognition after winning two awards in the USA, Gold for International Single of the Year with her song Wild West and Bronze for International Emerging Artist at the International Singer-Songwriter Awards in Atlanta, USA.
There are 15,000 members in the International Singer-Songwriters Association, meaning Hayley had some tough competition.
Hayley said: “I was just over the moon, still am! I’d been enjoying the sunshine that day, I’d been for a long walk and when I got home and saw online that I’d won, I got the champagne out!”
“Obviously it would’ve been amazing to go to Atlanta but I’ll be going next year as I’ll get to be a judge and present an award. I’ll try to go out there for a month and organise some gigs and make the most of the trip.
“Since I put the news on social media yesterday (Monday, August 8), I’ve had hundreds of messages from people congratulating me and it’s been a bit overwhelming but really lovely.”
About Hayley
Displaying an incredible vocal range with a distinctive all-round style, which can effortlessly leap from earthy and soulful raw emotion to soaring and ethereal angelic tones, Hayley has been likened to Eva Cassidy, Joni Mitchel, LeAnn Rimes and Kate Bush.
An accomplished and insightful songwriter, who effortlessly captures deep emotional sentiment with moving sincerity, she has co-written with twice Grammy-nominated songwriter Jan Buckingham (Whitney Houston) in Nashville, performed in Bob Harris’s home studio for his Under the Apple Tree sessions, and has supported Tom Jones, Albert Lee, Scouting for Girls, Martha Reeves and Hazel O’Connor.
Hayley’s fanbase is ever growing with recent performances at C2C London, UK’s biggest country festival and The British Country Music Awards where her song Wild West was shortlisted as UK Song of the year. Her music is popular with many radio stations in Ireland and she was awarded UK Entertainer of the year at The Hot Country TV Awards held in Ireland where she performed in front of 1200 people. Hayley is currently recording new material and is co writing with Nashville award winning writer Bill DiLuigi, Anna Neale, Phil Caffrey and Hattie Murdoch.