The country music sweetheart worked as a rural nurse in Inverell, and is releasing her second album The Riddle of Life on February 24.

The album is a product of the past few years of Dykes' life. Marriage and pregnancy have brought a family aspect to her music, a trip to Nashville has brought new sounds and confidence and her experience dealing with her friend's brain tumour inspired her songwriting.

"It takes something to really grab me before I write a song and finish it ... something I want to tell people," she said.

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The album's title track has particular depth after Dykes' friend was diagnosed with a brain tumour a year ago and tragically passed away last year.

"I didn't know the right thing to say or how to address it so I ended up writing a song, probably at the time for my sake as much as hers," she said.

"It became a bit of a therapeutic thing to all of us."

Although sad stories underpin songs like The Riddle of Life and her new single All I'm Gunna Get, Dykes said the album is about "making the most of life" and she wanted an inspirational feel, rather than dark and eerie.

"The riddle of life is a good way of summing up the album because there's a lot of unanswered questions but there's also a lot of silver linings and positivity and a bit of advice in there ... I hope its a bit of an answer to the riddle of life in some ways," she said.

Dykes certainly made the most of a trip to Nashville, not only exploring the city but also songwriting, recording half an album and playing a gig.

She was given tickets to the world's country music capital as a '"pay it forward" gift for doing some fundraising in a small community.

"There's a lot of new sound on [the album], a lot of new instruments being introduced that just give it a different feel ... there are no two songs on it that are really the same which I'm really excited about because ... the whole album is quite diverse," she said.

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"It's something I wanted to have the confidence with but I just hadn't found that yet, so it's been good to be pushed that little bit further," she said.

Dykes said the album isn't just about her stories but also the community and other people.

She lived and worked as a rural nurse in the New England area before moving home to the coast a couple of years ago.

"I believe that you normally have people cross your path for a reason, so I usually find the people you meet in those situations usually have a bit of advice, one sentence they say that really grabs you," she said.

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