Stateside success for Dunedin country singer

Dunedin singer and songwriter Kylie Price has won two awards at a Texas country music festival.

Dunedin singer Kylie Price, having won two major prizes at a United States country music festival, promptly celebrated her success with a burger.

Invited to represent New Zealand at the Texas Sounds International Country Music Awards, which ended last weekend, the 23-year-old singer-songwriter is no stranger to awards, having won the 2012 Gold Guitars overall prize and a string of Australian contests in recent years.

''I won the 2016 Acoustic Artist of the Year and Female Vocalist of the Year. I celebrated by going to the burger chain Dairy Queen for the first time ever - and it was amazing,'' Price explained via email from Jefferson, Texas.

''I was super supported by the audience, especially being so far from home and someone they had never heard of before. They enjoyed my set and the stories that came with my songs.

''The backing band were great. The lead guitarist had played for Kenny Rogers, the Eagles and Linda Ronstadt.''

The invitation to the week-long event in Jefferson, East Texas, was a result of Price winning the Tamworth Country Music Festival in New South Wales in 2013.

''Someone saw me at Tamworth and recommended the organisers of the Texas event check me out.''

Price was the only New Zealand performer at Texas Sounds, which attracted more than 50 acts from more than 18 nations.

''It was unlike any competition I had ever been in but that was to be expected, being in America. It was set out differently. Instead of having sections, we had a 45-minute performance slot as our audition.''

In 2012, Price withdrew from Television New Zealand's talent search programme New Zealand's Got Talent. The then 19-year-old University of Otago music student had qualified for the semifinals of the programme, but refused to sign a contract allowing the show's producers exclusive use of her music.