Kayla Mahon released her album Right On The Money last month and it subsequently peaked at number 16 on the Official Top 20 New Zealand Albums chart last week.
It was a big effort to even get the album out, so to now get on the charts was the cherry on top for Mahon.
"I’m really stoked with that," she said.
"You put in a form about how many CDs you’ve sold and of course CDs are not that current. So you just don’t know where you’re going to fit."
Along with the physical edition it could be listened to on various music streaming platforms.
Releasing the album felt like a "huge" achievement, she said.
"It’s really great to finally release an album that I’ve been wanting to do for a very long time."
The album featured seven original songs, amassing to a 22-minute listen.
"Its definitely been a long time coming."
It featured many songs that held a lot of emotion for her including the single Little Man which was dedicated to her 6-year-old son, Harley.
Taking creative control of each song allowed her to portray the emotions and stories she wanted.
"I’ve made it so that every track has its own story and life to it."
Before her solo career, Mahon was one-half of The Heartleys, a country music duo with Jody Direen that released two albums.
For this album recording process she travelled to Nashville to record with producer Jay Tooke.
This was done in June last year and before that, nine months had been spent songwriting for the album.
"This feels like a huge achievement for me.
"I’ve done quite a lot in my career, but I feel like this is one of the proudest moments for me."
An album launch show was held at the Riversdale Community Centre on June 15.
The show sold out and a lot of positive feedback from friends and fans followed, she said.
"They just love what I’m doing.
"I think a lot of my feedback has been about how true I am to myself. I’m not too scared to wear my heart on my sleeve."
The title track was listed on two Apple Music playlists: Country Caffeine and Aussie Country.
This was the first time one of her songs had been added to two playlists, she said.
"I’m achieving goals little by little ... All these little wins will end up being big one day."
She recalled "jumping up and down" upon hearing she had been added.
"It’s actually a really tough and competitive market."
There was competition between about "15-20" tracks per week to get a spot on the playlists, she said.
Playlisting allowed music to be discovered by a larger audience.
She is also nominated for the More FM People’s Choice Award at the Southland Music Awards.
"I really appreciate that I’ve got such a great fan-base at the moment."
Other nominees for the award include Simon Thompson, Jordan Cossill, Filth Wizard and The Dollys.
A video clip has now been released for the title track.
