You don’t need the Appalachian mountains or cowboys to stage a country revival.
In fact, mills, chilly rains and Fox’s Biscuit factory works just as well, if the music of Jade Helliwell is anything to go by.
A Batley girl through and through, she has torn apart the clichés that have stuck fast to the country genre for decades before now.
A singer-songwriter with a potent, ballad-heavy voice and smoking acoustic guitar talents, she has proven that any environment can nurture the country sound.
Since the young age of 11, she has won over audiences at uncountable venues across Yorkshire.
Jade, 24, said: “It’s not really somewhere you would think to find country music but what I play is going down really well there.
“Through playing locally I’ve realised how many people love country music and it just shows you can play it wherever.
“I grew up listening to country music such as Patsy Cline and Dolly Parton and it’s this that just had a natural influence.”
But perhaps it is Batley’s rock culture that has enabled her to give the traditional country style an extra powerful kick.
Her music can easily be classified within the arena country sound, which fuses the soulful and folky songwriting with big choruses and a good dose of punching drums and sharp and pronounced guitar licks.
Jade said: “Some of the musicians I love most are Luke Brian and the Florida Georgia Line.
“This style really comes through when I play with my band, who have come from a rock background, such as my guitarist James Preston.”
Not only is her sound proving a hit in the clubs and pubs of the area but at festivals such as Crown of Lights and even at Bingley Live, where she played.
So much so that she was able to quit her job two years ago to concentrate on her music full time.
It is a dream come true for Jade, who said she never anticipated this success.
She said: “I was only nine-years-old when I first sang on stage at a karaoke event and knew from then on that’s what I wanted to do.
“But it was just the opportunity to sing that I wanted, I never expected it to take off like it has.
“I started gigging at 11 in Working Men’s Clubs and from 16 began singing at clubs and other music venues around the whole county several times a week. I left school at that point because writing and singing music was the only thing I wanted to do.”
Learning to write songs early on, she has amassed an impressive back catalogue of emotive ballads that describe her journey so far.
This includes songs like Somebody Save Me, which she wrote about the job she held in between 16 and 22.
Jade said: “It’s about working as a hospital cleaner, which was a job that I hated so much.
“Other songs focus on friendships, family and situations which strike a deep chord with me.”
Somebody Save Me will appear on Jade’s debut album, Secrets, along with her recent single Still On My Mind, which smashed all records for requests at on-line Cleckheaton radio station CORadio.
Two years in the making, it showcases her beguiling voice and song writing and will be released on May 4.
Jade said: “As this is my first album, I’ve taken the time to really get it exactly as I want it.
“I am very, very proud of what we’ve ended up with and can’t wait for people to hear the finished product.”
As for the future, Jade hopes to take her sound into more unexpected territory at events in Europe and beyond.
Jade will perform tonight at Warehouse 23 in Wakefield, the West Riding LLR on Sunday and Oakwell Hall Music Festival on July 12.
