Toyota Star Maker Grand Finalist Kiara Rodrigues heads into the competition with a shiny new country heartbreak drinking single, released January 6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Written with Nashville-based Aussie expat, Katrina Burgoyne at The CMAA Academy of Country Music senior course, ‘Message In A Bottle’ is a song about heartbreak, drinking and self-sabotage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It was a song I’d half started and kept in the cupboard but not really looked at, and when I found out who my co-writing partner would be, I knew exactly which song I wanted to work on with Katrina,” Kiara said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Any good country heartbreak song involves drinking, but one wine and I’m asleep, so I’ve used plenty of creative licence in this song. It’s about knowing that there’s a whole lot ahead of you in terms of the healing process, but tonight you’re relying on that bottle of wine.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kiara said everyone had their own coping mechanisms and felt this song would resonate with plenty of listeners. “Whether you’re a drinker or not a drinker; we’ve all had that heartbreak,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The song’s country flavour is boosted by production from Nash Chambers, another expat now living and working in Nashville. “Nash’s production style was something I really resonated well with,” Kiara said. “He’s got a keen eye and ear for what sounds good and the vocals were recorded with Liam Kennedy-Clark in Maitland. I’m incredibly honoured to be working with Nash because he’s produced some of my favourite records that I grew up listening to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It’s exciting to be releasing this single before Toyota Star Maker and being able to showcase the single in the competition.” This is the first time the Sydney singer-songwriter has been named among the top 10 entrants in the prestigious and long-running country music talent search.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This is something I’ve dreamed of since I first started country music in 2005,” she said. “To have those dreams of being in the top 10 realised, on the day I found out, I was in a complete state of shock – a very excited shock.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whether she is successful in Star Maker or not, Kiara plans to “run with it”. “I’ve got a whole heap of other songs I’ve written would love to turn into an EP and if I won, the trip to Nashville would bring about amazing co-writing opportunities,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I would love to have a run of shows across the east coast in all the states I’ve lived in and to have that lovely Rav 4 to do it all in would be amazing. The Toyota Star Maker prize would be a great way of facilitating all those hopes and dreams.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Coming back to the Tamworth Country Music Festival is also a reminder of how far Kiara has come in her career. “Missing the festival really drove home how much the Tamworth Country Music Festival is part of my identity,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I’ve been coming since I was nine years old. It feels like coming home with I’m at the Tamworth festival. It’s also a good reminder of the experiences and memories I’ve made being part of the Australian country music industry”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Toyota Star Maker Grand Finalist Kiara Rodrigues heads into the competition with a shiny new country heartbreak drinking single, released January 6. Written with Nashville-based Aussie expat, Katrina Burgoyne at The CMAA Academy of Country Music senior course, ‘Message In A Bottle’ is a song about heartbreak, drinking and self-sabotage. “It was a song I’d … Continue reading “Kiara Rodrigues – Message In A Bottle”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/zfmcountry.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/zfmcountry.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/zfmcountry.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zfmcountry.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zfmcountry.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/zfmcountry.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/zfmcountry.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zfmcountry.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zfmcountry.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}