RAPIDLY rising star Codee-Lee Down has claimed her place on the national and international music scene as a true professional, collecting another impressive accolade over the weekend.
The Bunbury songstress claimed the 2014 WAM regional song of the year at the prestigious annual awards party held in Fremantle on Saturday night.
Taking out the category in WA’s premier song competition was a “wonderful surprise” for the humble 20-year-old, with 800 musicians nominated across 16 categories.
Miss Down’s winning song was Aint Got Time For That, which she penned while sitting in a cafe in Tennessee but did not think much would come of it.
“I never thought I would record it so filed it away, but last January I was involved in WAM’s Sounds of the South West compilation album and this song ended up on it,” she said.
“The way it was recorded was a new direction for me, it’s more folk country and very Mumford and Sons – it’s a fun song.”
Miss Down said she was grateful to be recognised in such a broad category as her country music flavour was up against all other genres.
“It was such a nice surprise because I’m only 20 and it’s the first time I’ve ever been nominated – I was lucky enough to win some recording time with this award so I’ll be using that to my advantage and getting a new sound out there.”
The hard-working musician launched her new EP six weeks ago and recently unveiled a video clip, with a statewide tour coming up in September.
“I’m going to hit the road in 2015, I’m lucky enough to be a full-time musician now so I can’t slack off, I need to get out there and use every opportunity to my advantage.”