Native Australian singer-songwriter Sue Halford dreams of making it big in the country music scene by playing several venues a month in Nashville, Tenn. Currently, Halford is the marketing director at Kentucky Down Under/Kentucky Caverns in Horse Cave. Photo by Clinton Lewis

Sue Halford, like a lot of southcentral Kentuckians, loves the twang of country music. I was born into it, said Halford, marketing director for Kentucky Down Under/Kentucky Caverns in Horse Cave. My dad is a songwriter, record producer and publisher for pop and country acts. He had a lot of hit records happen when I was born. But Halford isnt a native of Kentucky or Tennessee, where Nashville is the country music capitol. She was born in Sydney, Australia. I wrote my first song when I was 4 years old. It was called Seaside Holiday. I played left hand ukelele, said Halford, who is right-handed. It was named after a game we played in Australia. The call to sing was strong for Halford, so strong that she moved to Nashville to start a career. My father was representing some Nashville acts. Nashville is a songwriters town while Sydney is geared toward the development of bands, she said. I was (in Nashville) for three and a half years. She became a regular on Sunday Writers Picks Night at the Bluebird Cafe, a place where many performers are trying to break into the country music scene. I like the camaraderie between performers, she said of her experience at the Bluebird, where she still occasionally performs. They are concentrating on the music. Some friends invited Halford to go to Kentucky Down Under and she loved it so much that she got a job there as a singer of Australian folk songs and later became marketing director. But singing still is in her blood. Halford has released an album with RCA Australia records called The Space. She recorded it in Sydney with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and it was released in Italy. I wrote, produced and played piano on all the songs on The Space, she said. Halford said she finds joy in the songwriting process. I can be just playing the piano or the guitar and (words to a song) come from another source, she said. The joy of songwriting is when its inspired. You feel like another source is coming through you. Halfords long-term goal is to make music her full-time career and venture into other types of music. Her latest project is a funk track she co-wrote with Lindsey Bland called Pumping the Caboose. Its a very different kind of track for me, she said. I never worked on a funk-rap track before. Halford also is reveling in her new status as a permanent U.S. resident. You have to be patient because it will test you, she said, remembering the long process of applying to become a resident. I got my green card last year. Im thrilled to finally be a resident of the U.S. Five years from now, Ill be eligible for citizenship. Halford believes that when it comes to music, she always will reach for the stars. Ive achieved half of my singing dream so far, she said. My dream is to write all styles of music.