Sasha McVeigh unveils Dierks Bentley cover ahead of US Country Festival appearances

Ahead of a summer on the Country Festival 
circuit in the States,

Sasha McVeigh honours musical icon Dierks Bentley
+ BBC Radio London Live session

(Expanded Press Release)

Sasha McVeigh exclusively covers Dierks Bentley's track, 'I'll Be The Moon', from his latest album, 'Black', as part of Essentially Pop's Essential Covers feature.

Lovely 22-year old Sasha McVeigh is the Hereford born and raised singer/songwriter currently taking the States by storm. Having been the only British act to appear on the main stage of no less than 5 of the US' most prominent country festivals, Sasha unveiled her debut album I STAND ALONE to critical acclaim last year.

Declared “a ray of sunshine” by Taste of Country, Sasha is excited to be debuting new material upon her return to the States this summer, where she is once again the most prominently placed British Country artist.

Ahead of the tour, Sasha's has unveiled new single When I'm Over You, which has proved a runaway success - with approaching 120,000 streams on Spotify already - having garnered heavy praise from Bob Harris, who has played it several times on his BBC Radio 2 show.

“Sasha McVeigh UK Americana/ Country artist, again I love her music….it's a song that means a lot to Sasha it’s called "When I'm Over You" and YES indeed she does bear an amazingly strong resemblance to Lady Gaga, there's no doubt about that" - Bob Harris (OBE) BBC Page

Of the single, Sasha said 'When I'm Over You' is a song that wasn’t meant to be written because, by writing it, I had to admit what I’d spent so long trying to hide. I wasn’t over him. But letting myself be vulnerable and writing this song made me realise it’s okay not to have moved on. It’s okay to be sad sometimes because that proves what I felt was real. One day I will let him go but until then I’ll keep that unnamed number in my phone.'

She has also been heavily supported by Bauer, Chris Country, Amazing and BBC Regional - with Gaby Roslin inviting her in for a session and declaring her 'amazing'.

Sasha McVeigh joined Gaby Roslin on BBC Radio London on her Sunday 22 May 2016 show (BBC Page) Not only has she new fans in Blue's Antony Costa and Chesney Hawkes, but she performed a stunning First Aid Kit (SE) OFFICIAL cover.

ICYMI: Listen to her interview and live studio session (songs: “When I'm Over You”, “I Stand Alone” and First Aid Kit’s “My Silver Lining”) here, Click Play twice:

Sasha tweeted this pic (below) with Chesney Hawkes saying: If I time-travelled to tell my 8 year-old self I was on Gaby Roslin w/ these two yesterday, I wouldn't believe me!

(Release Date: 8 June 2015) Sasha McVeigh - I Stand Alone (Hot Stuff Management)

12 Tracks (Country Music People June 2015; 4 Stars) CD - UK iTunes | SPOTIFY  

'I Stand Alone' has 10 tracks, along with 2 bonus tracks including 'Stupid Girl (Acoustic Version)' which was chosen as "Best of the Best" by BBC Introducing. 

It also features a 16-page, full colour booklet - Image

Sasha explained to her fans on social media that the album title is not a statement of her solitude, but rather signifying that she intends to stand out from the crowd. She explained. 'Nobody should be afraid to be who they are.'

Reviews

… Bottom line is this is a very good debut well worth a listen and it fills me with joy that a young British writer and singer is producing country music of this calibre -  Chris Smith (Country Music People; 4 STARS out of 5)

Overall ‘I Stand Alone’ is an incredibly accomplished piece of music. One of the things that really impressed me was the variety within the album, from the sassy ‘No Strings Attached Romance’, to ‘Hot Mess’, which brings out an almost Miranda-esque, rock chick vibe to it. Depending on your mood ‘I Stand Alone’ has a little bit for everyone. ‘You Only Live Once’ is another of the songs that gets you in the feels. With her unique vocals and song-writing ability to match many a well established act, Sasha McVeigh is going place and I look forward to tracking her career with interest. (Andrew MacBride, For The Country Record)

About Sasha McVeigh

Genre: Country / Pop / Americana

Sasha McVeigh repertoire of instruments: Vocals, Guitar, Keyboard, Banjo

Home Town: Hereford

Affiliation: SESAC

• From singing in the shopping trolley when she was 2, to singing all over the United States and UK, British Country singer/songwriter Sasha McVeigh says music is her life.
• Born in a small, rural city in England, Sasha garnered a love of Country music from her father who used to dance her around the living room to CMT when she was just 18 months old.
• She began playing keyboard at age 10 and writing songs in the years that followed.
• Her professional music journey started in July 2012 when she took a two week trip to Nashville, with a plan to perform just a handful of shows. What resulted was two weeks of solid bookings at venues such as Tootsies Orchid Lounge, The Rutledge, The Bluebird and various others up and down Broadway. The reception she received meant Sasha, subsequently, returned to Nashville numerous times for extended periods in 2012 and 2013.
• Upon completion of her UK tour at the end of October 2014, Sasha headed back to Nashville to record her highly anticipated, first full length, full band album - a sample track from which was played by Mark Forrest across every local BBC Radio station in Great Britain and was subsequently chosen as "Best of the Best of BBC Introducing".
• As the daughter of a retired special forces Major in the UK in 2014 she was asked and >> sang the US National Anthem (Star Spangled-Banner) at the Taste of Country Festival in Hunter Mountain/ Bear Creek New York with 20,000+ people singing along with her.
• Sasha performed at the 2015 C2C Country To Country Festival at The O2 in London and has opening for Canadian country singer/songwriter Lindsay Ell, on her European tour.
• The British country singer has opened for Billboard chart topper Dustin Lynch and CMA award winning duo Thompson Square.
• Released her first UK single on April 13, 2015 titled "Someone To Break My Heart" (Hot Stuff Management)
• In April 2015 she undertook an extensive co-headline tour of the UK and Ireland, also select dates in Europe, with American singer/songwriter, Sonia Leigh.
• I LOVE YOU COLORADO!! Sasha performed, for the first time, on the Main Stage at Country Jam Colorado alongside The Band Perry, Keith Urban, Kacey Musgraves, Colt Ford and many more during the weekend June 18 -21, 2015!
• Performed alongside some of the biggest names on the circuit in America (inc. Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton and Keith Urban)
• Booked six main stage slots at US summer Country Music Festivals in 2015.
• In August 2015 she joined Billboard #1 chart topper and CMA nominee Kelsea Ballerini at her #1 party.
• Opened the ACM awards kick-off concert in Las Vegas with Hunter Hayes.
• Anti-bullying clothing label Amour Propre announced McVeigh as an advocate.
• In September 2015 the British Skin Foundation announced her as their new ambassador.
• She was voted UK Female Country Singer Of The Year by UKCountryRadio.com's presenters and UKCountryRadio.com's Gold, Silver and Bronze subscribers.
• She was nominated for Female Vocalist Of The Year at the 2015 BCMAward (British Country Music Awards).
• Sasha (who signed up for CMA membership in March 2015) signed with William Morris Endeavour Entertainment (WME), the biggest booking agency in the world and was the first British country singer to do so out of the Nashville office.
• In March/ April 2016 embarked on a European Tour with American Young and Loveless Effect.
• Her album I STAND ALONE is nominated as a finalist for UK Country Album of The Year for the 2016 UK Country Music Awards (presented by UKCountryRadio.com) 

11 DAYS TO GO TILL I PERFORM AT @countryfest!! ALL CAPS ARE NECESSARY TO EXPRESS MY EXCITEMENT!!!!! #CountryFest2016 pic.twitter.com/nYn4kOeZFv

— Sasha McVeigh (@sashamcveigh) 6 June 2016

The BAD NEWS

Sasha had to pull out of Country Fest (June 17) & Country Stampede (June 23) because her visa/green card is still not ready. Someone in the US government office inadvertently (in their words) sent her paperwork to the wrong place. So Sasha is stuck in the UK, devastated not to be there. Sasha received wonderful comments of encouragement and support, especially from her Wisconsin & Minnesota fans who were supposed to be seeing her perform. They brought tears to her eyes - the good kind - with their sweet words. 
Many were wearing their Sasha McVeigh wristbands and t-shirts! 
Sasha’s band, who are Loveless Effect, read out a letter to the Country Stampede crowd on her behalf who took her place on the main stage. “Country Stampede, you are like family to me and I am absolutely heartbroken!....Read more Facebook Post

This makes my heart happy!
Thank you Country Stampede, I love you and I'm so glad you're enjoying @LovelessEffect <3 https://t.co/7t2FXXUr9P

— Sasha McVeigh (@sashamcveigh) 23 June 2016

The music video for “When I’m Over You” is now finished. 
The track has received over 120,000 Spotify Streams and it is now available digitally WORLDWIDE on iTunes.  

US Festival Dates:

17th June 2016 - Country Fest, Cadott Wisconsin Cancelled :( ☹

(w/ Kenny Chesney, Jerrod Niemann and Old Dominion)

23rd June - Country Stampede, Manhattan Kansas (w/ Dierks Bentley and Sam Hunt) Cancelled 

2nd July - Jam in the Valley, Varysburg NY (w/ Jake Owen and Jana Kramer)

3rd July - Pianos, Manhattan NY (headline show)

20th July - Elbo Room, Chicago IL (headline show)

23rd July - Country Jam USA, Eau Claire Wisconsin (w/ Jason Aldean and Thomas Rhett)

24th July - Country Thunder, Twin Lakes Wisconsin (side stage)

2nd August - WE Fest, Detroit Lakes Minnesota (pre-party)

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