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Amber Hayes is offering fans a free download of her touching duet with Lonestar’s Richie McDonald, “Always There For Me.”  The previously unreleased track is available at her official website, www.AmberHayesMusic.com and was performed by Hayes and McDonald in the 2012 summer movie, “Cowgirls N’ Angels.”  The family-friendly movie stars James Cromwell, Bailee Madison, Jackson Rathbone and Alicia Witt and includes two other original songs from Hayes: “Right As Rain” and her 2010 Top 40 single, “C’mon.”

“Cowgirls N’ Angels” marks Amber’s acting debut on the big screen, but the Oklahoma native and Nashville resident is an accomplished theater performer, having played the role of Kathy Twitty in the Conway Twitty musical, “Conway Twitty: The Man, The Music, The Legend, The Musical.”  Hayes is currently working on her sophomore album, with plans to release a new single in late summer or early fall.

To hear “Always There For Me,” visit www.AmberHayesMusic.com.  The “Cowgirls N’ Angels” soundtrack is now available at iTunes, Amazon, and other major digital retailers.

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Oklahoma native, Amber Hayes, was born to be on stage. She was singing and performing at state fairs and festivals by the time she was eight yeas old. She was even a finalist for Disney’s television show, “The Mickey Mouse Club”. Amber Hayes’ resume is quite an impressive one.

She launched her career by nabbing the coveted role of Kathy Twitty in the national touring play, “It’s Only Make Believe,” a story featuring the life and music of Conway Twitty. She also had three songs featured in the 2012 family film “Cowgirls N’ Angels” (which includes a duet with Lonestar’s Richie McDonald, as well as a small role in the movie).

Her 2010 EP, “C’mon”, produced two Top 40 Music Row singles: “C’mon” and “Wait”. Now Amber is ready for some new music. She is currently writing and recording for a brand new project with producer Paul Compton.

Nashville Love got a chance to talk with the multi-talented Amber Hayes during this year’s 2012 CMA Music Festival where she performed at the Chevrolet Roadhouse Stage in Fan Alley.

Nashville Love: When did you decide you wanted to be in the music industry?
Amber Hayes: I think early on I decided, being as I fell in love with country music when I was five. I loved the stage. I was really shy up to the point where I started singing and it was like “Wow! This feels home to me!” So I knew I wanted to do it.

NL: Who were your musical influences when you were growing up?
Amber: I have a few. My top three were probably Barbara Mandrell, Dolly and Reba. Being from Oklahoma, I’m a small town girl so I love the Oklahoma girls.

NL: We read that you had auditioned for The Mickey Mouse Club. What do you think your life would have been like today if you had been selected to be on The Mickey Mouse Club?
Amber: I don’t know (laughs) I mean, ya never know what that would have brought, but I just wanted to do country music and I think that staying in Oklahoma playing fairs and festivals gave me a real appreciation for country music.

NL: You have spent a lot of time in the acting business. If you could rewind the clock and star in any movie, what would it be? Amber: I would love to do “Walk The Line.”

NL: Is there anyone’s career you’d like to model yours after?
Amber: Either Reba or Dolly. I love Dolly. She’s a great songwriter and she’s also such a great business person. She’s a great person and gives so much, and puts on a GREAT show too. So, she’d be the one I’d want to model my career after.

NL: Was the process of recording your albums what you dreamed it would be when you walked into the studio?
Amber: Ya know, I had never really done that before, so when I first started doing that it was like, “This is different than being up on stage and performing”, but it’s a learning process just like performing in front of a live crowd or whatever. I’m a live performer, I love that, so it was different for me.

NL: What can we learn about you as a person from listening to the songs you wrote or co-wrote?
Amber: I think you’d probably learn I’m a small town country girl. I grew up in small town America Oklahoma, and also that I’m a real positive person. I think you’ll hear that in my music as well.

NL: You just completed a duet with Richie McDonald from Lonestar. Who is your dream singing partner?
Amber: My dream partner is either Dolly or Reba, but then also as far as a guy, and someone current, it would be Chris Young. Love him!

NL: You talk about loving the stage and being a live performer. How have you gotten stage experience?
Amber: I took voice lesson and dance lessons. I was performing at fairs and festivals by the time I was eight. I think just doing it as much as you can, and at an early age, I think that’s where I kinda got used to being on stage.

NL: Have you done any touring yet?
Amber: Yeah, I toured with the Conway Twitty musical, and last year I did a lot with Ty Herndon. I’ve done a lot of radio tours too. This summer I’m doing more of my own shows, so it’ll be fun!

NL: If you could pick any tour to be on, whose would you choose?
Amber: The Paisley tour!

NL: Would you be ready for the pranks? (laughs)
Amber: Hey, I could take it. I was raised with a ton of boys so believe me, I could take it (laughs).

NL: We read that you had a women’s fitness company that you started and then sold to finance your music career. Tell us about it.
Amber: It was a workout facility for women and it was a 30 minute workout place kinda like Curves. Circuit training. I learned a lot. I was really young when I opened that up and was able to do that for three years, and then sold it to do music full time. I was really lucky and learned a lot.

NL: Are you still a fitness “expert?”
Amber: Um, not crazy. I should probably be more (laughs). I think it’s super important to have a healthy lifestyle.

NL: You’ve got a bit of experience across the board with musicals, acting, and your music. What do you consider your “dream” job, music or acting?
Amber: What I do is really my dream job. Just being able to go on tour, have my own tour, take country music and my music worldwide. Going on tour, doing arenas and stadiums. That would be awesome.

NL: What can we expect from you over the next year?
Amber: I’m going to have new music out, either the end of the summer or early fall. I’m real excited about that. So, that’s the next step for me, is the new music. It’s been a little while, so I’m ready.

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Screen shot 2012-06-13 at 12.01.24 PMGrowing up, country singer Amber Hayes was singing country when country wasn’t cool. She dabbled with the Mickey Mouse Club (not making the final cut) and sang in her local church, but it was her love of traditional country music and entertaining that started her on the path she is on today.

And, it was her love of country superstars Barbara Mandrell, Dolly Parton and fellow Oklahoman Reba McEntire that she always gravitated to as she was growing up in small town Weleetka, Oklahoma. The three legendary performers would also become her role models as she found herself in Nashville charting her own music career.

“Musically, I feel so connected to Reba McEntire. The older Reba stuff is the type of music I like to do” explains Hayes, who will be performing at the Cancer Challenge Sparkle & Spurs Gala on June 22 in Rogers. “I am more country than Barbara was (as a singer), but she was such an entertainer on stage.” Referring to Mandrell’s singing and dancing, as well as the famous entertainer’s foray into television with her weekly television musical show, “I hope I can relate to my audience and reel them in, instead of just sitting up there on stage singing. And, Dolly and her songwriting, well she is just amazing. All three of those ladies mastered what they do.”

Hayes aspires to do just what Mandrell, Parton and McEntire did as she masters her own art of performing on stage. It was on a stage, at the tender age of five years old, where she realized it was where she truly belonged. “I was competing in the Miss Pride Day pageant and I was so shy, super shy in fact, but the moment I found the stage, I became a different person,” says Hayes. “I remember being on stage and feeling ‘wow.’ I am not so shy after all.”

Like her idols, Hayes has also carefully managed to diversify her talents into other areas of entertainment. It was after receiving sage advice from Mandrell, she learned she needed to figure out what kind of entertainer she wants to become and more importantly learn how to brand herself into the entertainer she dreams of becoming.

Taking the time to figure out what kind of entertainer she is has been time well spent. Hayes has since developed into a well-rounded, up-and-coming national recording artist. The first thing she did was to start writing songs. Something she had never done before. “When I arrived in Nashville, I was told early on I needed to be a songwriter,” says Hayes, because Nashville was moving towards the direction of artists as songwriters.

She is glad she did. The songwriting process is something she enjoys and a skill she is continuingly honing. And, she firmly believes that writing has made her a better artist. She recently co-wrote three original songs that will be featured in the upcoming moving “Cowgirls n Angels,” featuring James Cromwell, Bailee Madison and Jackson Rathbone. She was also asked to sing one of her songs in a dancing scene in the movie. The opportunity to act, or sing in this case, was just another chance to expand her talents to the big screen.

“When you are in that moment on a movie set and looking around, you just can’t believe this is really happening. I am really going to be in this movie and I was just blown away by the actors,” recalls Hayes. “I was singing my song ‘C’Mon’ and they do a line dance and it was just amazing seeing James Cromwell and other famous people dancing to my song.”

She would love the opportunity to do more big screen work in the future, because as an artist she knows she has to look at every opportunity, but music will always be her focus. And, music will no doubt be her main focus next month when Hayes is scheduled to perform for the Cancer Challenge Sparkle and Spurs Gala. She is excited to perform for the first time in Northwest Arkansas.

The Cancer Challenge is equally thrilled to have her perform at their annual fundraising event. “The 19th Annual Cancer Challenge event is the financial engine behind our continued efforts and helping us to further our mission,” says TinaWaggener, executive director of the Cancer Challenge. “We are especially excited about our Sparkle & Spurs Gala at the John Q. Hammons Center. Amber Hayes is a talented singer and songwriter and is quickly making a name for herself as a national recording artist. I have no doubt that our guests will enjoy her down-home country sound.”

Hayes also promises a high energy show. Similar to the ones she recently performed in March for the U.S. troops stationed in Diego Garcia military base in the Indian Ocean. Last year, she enjoyed her busiest touring year ever, performing in China, Japan and Sweden. She also recently finished recording a new, seven-song project with producer Paul Compton, co-writing several of the tracks, including early fan-favorite singles “Me & Loretta” and “Any Day is a Good Day.”

“What you see if what you get… it will be high energy,” says Hayes, as she will no doubt channel some of the influences in her life that have led her to where she is today as an entertainer. “I am the same person off stage as I am on stage when I perform. I try to connect with my audience. I sing what I have been through and I tell a story.”

And, her story is pretty entertaining.

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r620-2899d9b68f3e1727ebefe06037524e07Amber Hayes‘ first moviemaking experience got star-studded before she even made it to the set.

“When they picked me up from the airport to go to Stillwater, I didn’t even know anybody was in the back of the car.

“I’m just talking to the driver, and I said, ‘You know, I could’ve just had my family come pick me up’ … and she said, ‘Oh, it’s fine, I had to pick Jackson up.’ And I turn around and Jackson Rathbone‘s sitting in the backseat. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh,’” Hayes said. “We talked most of the way to Stillwater. He’s a musician in a band, so we talked about that. That was neat.”

Catching a ride with one of the heartthrobs of “The Twilight Saga” movies wasn’t even the best moment the Oklahoma-born country singer-songwriter experienced during the production of the coming-of-age rodeo drama “Cowgirls N’ Angels,” which was filmed in Stillwater, Guthrie, Oklahoma City and Pawnee.

The Weleetka native contributed three songs to the family film and its soundtrack: the uplifting anthem “Right as Rain,” the lively toe-tapper “C’mon” and the father-daughter ballad “Always There for Me,” which she co-wrote just for the movie and recorded as a duet with former Lonestar frontman Richie McDonald.

“I wrote a lot of it in the van coming back from Oklahoma — I was doing a casino show there — and my co-writer (Bill DiLuigi) and I just got in the back of the van and wrote the song,” Hayes said in a phone interview from Nashville, Tenn., where she now lives and works.

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