KIRSTY Lee Akers' self-deprecating humour has always been one of the self-described "Hillbilly Princess'" most endearing qualities.
Not many artists - in the era of the stage-mannered image - would be willing to share a hilarious story about the time they blocked Steve Earle's dressing room toilet.
But Akers has always been a proud no-airs-and-graces Kurri Kurri girl. This week to promote the release of her new single Getting Over You on Friday she's taken a cheeky swipe at the country music industry's growing obsession with Tik-Tok in a series comical videos.
"I held off from joining Tik-Tok for so long because I thought it was so lame," Akers laughs. "But it is a good promo tool for artists.
"There's many artists who have signed big deals in the US because they've been discovered on Tik-Tok - which I don't totally agree with because the fashion seems to be they sign these people and they make one single and make a million dollars and they're never heard of again."
Getting Over You is the first track off Akers' forthcoming seventh album, which is still being written, but is expected to be released by the end of the year.
It was co-written with The Wolfe Brothers over Zoom during COVID lockdown.
Akers, who is happily married to her childhood sweetheart Jesse Anderson, said she wanted to write a "happy break-up song" that fans could relate to.
"You're not sitting alone crying and having regrets or wanting to get revenge," she said.
"You're at peace with what you had at the time, but you happened to grow apart for whatever reason, and if you could you would do it all again."
Akers is still finalising the rest of her album, which she promises will be a return to the '90s country sound that inspired her as a child.
In June she'll return to Nashville for the first time since the pandemic to attend songwriting sessions and play shows, which includes a performance at the iconic Bluebird Cafe.
