Kyle Dessent is an ex-pat Perth boy more than aware of the allure country music has. After all, it’s his love of country music that has seen him head to the even bigger smokes of the East Coast. It’s a love that even saw him take a pilgrimage to the Mecca of Australian country music, Tamworth. And it was there that he was given much crucial recognition when he entered the Telstra Road To Tamworth competition and took out a grand finalist position.

It’s proven to be a golden opportunity, lining Dessent up with the some of the best names in the business. Think award winning Nashville songwriters Karin Paparelli and Bill DiLuigi. Or how about guitar instruction from Gary Talley, world class Grammy nominated Memphis guitarist. The list goes on, proving one thing: Kyle Dessent is on the cusp of making it.

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‘Telstra Road To Tamworth was a brilliant introduction into the musical industry,’ Dessent explained by email. ‘It enabled me to meet and greet with industry executives and professionals who had so much experience and advice to share, it was a lot to take in but I have always been a fan of diving into the deep end! And because the event was televised it was great exposure to the Country music audiences, I’ve since been invited to sing at other country music events around the country and have been approached by a couple of agencies offering recording and management contracts… but nothing official as yet!’

Dessent already has a demo CD, Paradigm, doing the traps and helping pave the way for him. But as Dessent points out, it’s a demo which merely spans a gap, providing his fans with a chance to hear him whenever they choose and prospective venues with the opportunity to hear his talent. ‘Currently I’m hard at work creating my own material that will in its time formulate into what will become my official all-original debut album,’ Dessent explained.

But that’s not to say Paradigm is all bad. In fact, it’s full of great little gems. It contains The Calling’s Wherever You Will Go, the song that saw him make it into this year’s Top 100 on Australian Idol. ‘I think Paradigm is a fine example of how scattered my musical styling is,’ Dessent confessed.

‘I can’t decide if I’m country, jazz, rock or musical theatre,’ he added. ‘I think there’s a place for each in what I do and as I’m creating original material my “sound” is starting to form and have a consistency, encompassing my eclectic inspirations from the various genres I listen to and perform at my shows. I think the most important element of a song is the lyric, and the musical styling should be whatever most effectively delivers that lyric.’

Dessent returns to Perth for Pride Fairday on Sunday September 27. To hear him now visit www.myspace.com/kyledessent and check out his tunes.

Scott-Patrick Mitchell