Kaylee Bell: Country singer ahead of the release of her 'Nights Like This' album and tour

Back in New Zealand for the Summer, Kaylee Bell is starting her year off with a bang.  The country-pop artist has been busy with festivals and family, performing with Synthony at Rhythm and Alps just before the count down on New Years Eve.  “I don’t know how I top that now for a New Year,” she told Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking.  “That was a pretty cool way to spend that.”   She briefly jumped across to Australia and performed at a few Meatstock festivals, and most importantly, has been getting ready for her own tour kicking off this week.  The ‘Nights Like This Tour’ kicks off tonight in Tauranga, Bell travelling up and down New Zealand to perform her newest album which drops Friday.  ‘Nights Like This’ is Bell’s third studio album and with over 500k monthly listeners on Spotify, she's definitely got a presence in the industry.  “It was really cool to come out as a guest and have people singing along,” she told Hosking, referring to her New Years performance.   “To hear people singing your music is like, the biggest compliment, and that’s been happening a lot more.”  Bell’s career is still growing, still evolving, and she’s taking inspiration from the performance styles of the likes of Shania Twain and Keith Urban.  “We’re still growing this thing, but we have big dreams and big expectations.”  She and her band rehearse every week, “working their butts off” in Bell’s words.  “We’re always trying to be better.”  The tour is a reflection of that, initially starting with much fewer stops than the fourteen it’s wound up with.  “We’re pretty much covering almost everywhere through the country, which is exciting.”  From Whangarei right down to Invercargill and Nelson, Bell of course making a stop in her hometown of Waimate.  “We never want to miss that one.”  Not only will she be touring this year but Bell is returning to the festival circuit in Australia, this time as the headlining act.  “As a female country artist, it’s important I think, to step up and own that headlining space,” she told Hosking.  “I think a lot of the time we get put into these support roles and that's also awesome, but it’s just nice to like, be like, ‘nah, I’m gonna headline’ and sort of, you know, take that risk.”   “I think it’s really important.”  ‘Nights Like This’ releases Friday 15th of March.   LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.