Since arriving in Music City, I have written a handful of songs and performed at the famous Margaritaville as part of the Aus/USA lunch organised by Chris Watson Travel who is one of the Star Maker sponsors. I performed alongside fellow Aussies Travis Collins and Liam Brew, and ex-pats Kristy Cox, O’Shea and Katrina Burgoyne, as well as US artists Ty Herndon, and American Young.

It was a great opportunity to catch up with our Aussie friends over here and all get up to perform a song or three. After the lunch, Mark and Jay O’Shea interviewed me for their show on Foxtel and Josh was pulled in for a few juicy questions too, so keep a look out.

When the filming had finished up, we went out for a second lunch (Yes, SECOND lunch. The amount of eating I’ve been doing here is crazy! But when in America…).

Mark and Jay are such lovely people, so kind, and very genuine. I loved hanging out with them, I’ve looked up to them for a while so it was awesome to get to know them on a more personal level. O’Shea’s new album 61-615 will be released on July 28. I read on Instagram that the name of this album is a combination of the two country codes when phoning Australia being +61 and Nashville 615, the two countries they live in. How beautiful is that.

They’re heading back to Australia in July/August for a run of shows so head over to their website or social media platforms for a list of dates.

So, I am a huge supporter of live music, being a live performer myself, I always love to get out and support other musicians. Through doing this I have met some awesome people, one being Jenna McDaniel who is a songwriter in Nashville. I had heard Jenna’s stuff online and followed her on Instagram after I found her performing at a songwriters round I was watching.

After introducing myself over email, we set up a songwriting session and from that, she invited me to play a songwriters round with her at the Commodore Grille.

The round was my first songwriters round in Nashville, and I’m looking forward to doing many more and making more friends.

During this trip, I also attended the CMA Festival thanks to the Country Music Association through AristoPR, and it was amazing! Such an experience! Everywhere I turned there was an artist whose music I love. I saw Maren Morris, Dierks Bentley, Brothers Osbourne, Chris Lane, Love and Theft, and our very own Morgan Evans. Although it was hot and sticky, and I may have gotten a little sun burnt, I already can’t wait to come back next year with a whole tube of sun screen and a list of more songs to write!

See you soon, Rach