Sasha McVeigh

From singing in the shopping trolley when she was 2, to singing all over the United States, British Country singer/songwriter Sasha McVeigh says music is her life. Born in a small city "a million miles from everywhere" Sasha garnered a love of Country music from her Father who used to "dance me around the living room to CMT when I was just 18 months old." With a strong passion and ear for music she began playing keyboard at age 10 and writing songs in the years that followed: "Songwriting is extremely important to me, I cherish every song I write because each one is so personal; they're like rhyming diary entries." As well as keyboard, Sasha recently started learning to play acoustic guitar, but you certainly wouldn't be able to tell she's been playing for just over two years: "I love my Martin, he's called Dean (get it, 'Dean the Martin!') and I couldn't be on stage without him."

At only 19 years-old, Sasha has already gained a lot of experience and accomplished many goals. During the summers of 2010-12, Sasha has performed at numerous venues across the United States. Among other things, she has performed in Memphis, TN as part of Elvis Week (2010-12) and regularly has bookings in Nashville, TN performing at venues such as Tootsies World Famous Orchid Lounge, The Rutledge and The Bluebird Cafe. The fact Sasha has been able to make her mark in the industry despite being from the UK, and having to compete against her US counterparts, is incredible but can be attributed to her determination, vibrant personality, unique voice and talent as a songwriter.

While in Nashville, Sasha recorded her first EP made up solely of original material: "The whole experience of being in a professional studio was a dream come true and I couldn't be happier with the final product." The album was released (03/16/2013) on Sasha's birthday and is available on iTunes, Amazon and other music sites for download or hard-copy purchase: "The fact my debut album was released on my birthday makes it all the more special and emphasizes how much of a milestone this is for me in my developing career. I'm so excited at the thought of people listening to my music on their way to work or something and hopefully they'll be able to relate to what I'm saying, that would be awesome!"

Music from the album was recently played on the US radio station 'Coast to Coast AM' as part of their 'Emerging Artists' segment, which has an audience of 3 million listeners, and the response was tremendous: "I had all these emails and messages from people I didn't even know, telling me how much they loved my voice and the songs on the CD, I was overcome with emotions- the way that kind of recognition makes you feel is indescribable!" Also, in terms of professional recognition as a songwriter, during the same visit that Sasha recorded her album, she was asked to join the performing rights organisation 'SESAC' and was told by the company "you are not a person who writes songs, you are a songwriter."

2013 has been a big year for Sasha as during the summer she embarked on her first tour of the United States. The tour covered 17 cities, across 13 states and 36 performances (including three of the major Country Music Festivals): "I had a blast going on tour, the whole experience was absolutely incredible! I visited so many wonderful places and performed at such a wide variety of venues - it certainly gave me the confidence to be able to handle anything that's thrown my way." In addition to her shows, Sasha was given the opportunity to be interviewed and perform on The Christopher Gabriel Program for the radio station WDAY Fargo, which has a worldwide audience: "I loved performing on Christopher Gabriel's radio program. I had never been interviewed on the radio before so that was a real highlight of the tour for me - it was a lot of fun and Christopher was such a sweetheart!"

A lot has been achieved in the short time Sasha has been pursuing a music career professionally and these achievements are the result of persistence and, more importantly, because she is extremely talented. She has a loyal base of fans which is continually growing and, because of her being British, is making an impact in both the UK and United States. Progress is constantly being made and building on the success of this summer, another tour is being planned for summer 2014 which will focus solely on music festivals - and she has already been booked for Country Jam Wisconsin and Country Stampede. In addition, Sasha recently got together with a band who will be accompanying her on this festival tour, bringing a completely new dynamic to her performing: "I am ecstatic to be able to work with this incredibly talented group of guys and to have been already booked for next summer. These past few years have been part of a journey, a journey that's far from over. There's so much to look forward to in the coming year and even more to aim for in the f