Lichfield's Fiona Culley has enjoyed country music from a very young age, listening to her dads country and western collection and singing along whilst he played guitar. But it was a freak fall that resulted in a severely broken leg that led her to discover her talent for song writing - and since then, the songs haven't stopped flowing.

Like most wannabe artists, 25 year old Fiona has tried her hand at everything to get her big break, working in beauty therapy during the day, then singing in pubs, clubs and music venues around the country at night. She even worked for a while making tea at a small independent record label, just to get access to some free recording time. But it was when she spotted American country singer Darius Rucker, lead singer of Grammy Award-winning band Hootie & the Blowfish in a London restaurant that she saw a chance for her big break, deciding the way to get noticed was to sing to him in front of the rest of the diners. She seized her chance and her version of Strangers and Angels by Kara DioGardi did the trick, resulting in him taking her details and flying her out to the home of country music, Nashville, Tennessee to record a duet with him the following week.

Fiona has since recorded an EP called Country 'til Monday which will be out next month, and has landed a record deal with New York's Marro Music. There's also talk of her accompanying Hootie & the Blowfish on their tour next year.

Fiona says: 'I'd love to be the first recognised country singer from the UK. Country music has evolved so much now - it's much less - trucks and beer - and more about storytelling. So many US country artists come over and do sell-out shows in Britain. It'd be great if I could perform for country fans at home, and over the water.'

She's recently been described as the UK's answer to Taylor Swift - which is all a long way from her music lessons at Abbots Bromley Girls School, where she left after finishing her GCSE's to concentrate on her music dream. Despite singing being a passion at school, she never joined the choir, and has had no formal voice training. Everything you hear is just raw natural talent. She's now adding to her musical armoury, learning guitar, but also the mandolin and banjo to contribute to her own unique sound.

Why not catch Fiona as she performs at 'The Swan with Two Necks' in Longdon on Wednesday 21st August at 7pm?