Hayley Jensen: Backing Herself and Chasing Her Wildest Dreams

After the success of her independently released album Country Soul, Australian country singer-songwriter Hayley Jensen is looking towards bigger stages and new opportunities. Speaking to CountryMusic.co.uk at The Long Road, she reveals the deeply personal story behind Wild As The Wind and explains why believing in herself has been the most important decision of her career.

There is something unapologetically ambitious about Hayley Jensen. Whether she’s opening a festival or performing on the other side of the world, the Australian country singer-songwriter approaches every show with the confidence and commitment of a headline artist. It’s a philosophy that has helped carry her through the challenges of building an independent career, and one that is becoming increasingly rewarding as her audience continues to grow.

But behind the confident performances and energetic country-rock anthems is a more personal story about difficult decisions, finding the courage to follow her own path and refusing to let life pass by without pursuing her dreams.

Learning to Back Herself

When Jensen released Country Soul in August 2025, she was taking on considerably more responsibility than she had with her previous records. Her earlier album, Breakin’ Hearts, had performed well, but her experience with a record label had ultimately left her wanting to take a different approach.

“I’d come off a record deal that wasn’t particularly great,” she explains.

Following that success without the support of a label was daunting. Although she’d released music independently before, she now faced higher expectations and the challenge of managing a release on a much bigger scale.

“I just had to back myself in the end,” she says. “If nobody’s gonna come along and support you and back you, you’ve got to do it for yourself if it’s what you really want.”

The decision paid off. Country Soul became her strongest ARIA chart performer, reaching No. 1 on the 100% Independent Australian Albums Chart and No. 3 on the Country Albums Chart. Four Independent Country Music Awards followed in January 2026.

Jensen says the record also became Australia’s highest-selling female country album during the period she is discussing, competing successfully with releases backed by major labels. Yet she is quick to credit the people who have supported her music.

“At the end of the day, you can have all of the support around you, but it does come back to that one-on-one,” she explains, reflecting on fans choosing to spend their hard-earned money on her records and concerts.

“That’s what I’m really most proud of, not the No. 1 or whatever, but just, you know, it signifies that support.”

Although the commercial results were uncertain, Jensen had begun to feel confident creatively much earlier. As soon as she wrote Country Soul, she knew it would become the album’s centrepiece and title track. Watching the songs, artwork and overall presentation come together reassured her that she was making the right record, even before she knew how audiences would respond.

“If nobody’s gonna come along and support you and back you, you’ve got to do it for yourself if it’s what you really want.”

The Personal Story Behind Wild As The Wind

Her 2026 singles Burn It Down and Wild As The Wind have brought a bigger, more energetic country-rock sound, although Jensen insists she isn’t following a carefully mapped-out musical plan.

“I don’t even know what the new version’s gonna be yet,” she laughs. “I’m just having a bit of fun at the moment.”

While Burn It Down was released in time for Australia’s CMC Rocks festival, where Jensen wanted a song suited to a spectacular live performance, Wild As The Wind has a much more personal foundation.

“Even though it feels like a bit of a toe-tapper and just like a fun sort of song, it’s actually a really personal story.”

She explains that it draws partly on a previous relationship in which her musical ambitions weren’t supported. Her partner wanted her to settle down and live a more conventional life, questioning whether pursuing music was realistic. Eventually, Jensen realised she had to choose between that relationship and the future she wanted.

Around the same time, her father passed away, an experience that profoundly changed how she thought about life and opportunity.

“He had dreamed of doing all of these wonderful things in his retirement and he didn’t even get a retirement,” she recalls.

His death brought home how easily plans can remain unfulfilled. He had always encouraged her ambitions, while reminding her that achieving them would require determination and hard work.

She remembers his advice: “If you want this, you can do anything you want, but if you want this, you really have to just go for it.”

That experience helped give Jensen the courage to pursue music wholeheartedly. But Wild As The Wind is also a celebration of finding somebody who shares those ambitions.

Her husband Chris, she explains, is wonderfully supportive and shares her enthusiasm for travel and adventure. The song reflects their relationship and the life they are building together.

“It’s sort of about us finding each other and running off into the sunset, chasing our wildest dreams,” she says. “It sounds funny, but it’s true.”

What sounds like a carefree country-rock anthem is therefore rooted in grief, difficult choices, love and the determination to make the most of life.

“You can have all these dreams, but if you don’t actually go after them, they’re just gonna stay as that.”

Finding a UK Family

Jensen’s determination is equally apparent in her approach to international touring. Bringing a full live show from Australia to Britain presents obvious challenges, but she has found a group of musicians who have made the experience considerably easier.

“I’ve been working with the amazing Gasoline & Matches band here, and they are just world-class musicians,” she says.

She first met them at Buckle & Boots several years ago, and they have since become what she affectionately describes as her “UK family”.

The relationship matters because Jensen wants British audiences to experience the same standard of performance they would receive in Australia, rather than a scaled-down version of her show.

And the response continues to impress her.

“You guys are incredible,” she enthuses. “I am just so incredibly shocked every time I come back.”

She has noticed the UK country music audience becoming larger and increasingly passionate, something that makes returning particularly rewarding.

The Song Comes First

Despite her enthusiasm for bigger productions, Jensen believes the strength of a song should never depend on the spectacle surrounding it.

Her Bluebird Café debut in Nashville during CMA Fest in 2025 offered a very different experience from the high-energy country-rock shows she enjoys performing.

“A good song always starts with a story that’s real,” she explains.

She is an enthusiastic advocate of co-writing, but believes the starting point should always be something genuine. Drawing on personal experiences allows her to perform a song night after night with conviction, regardless of the setting.

“Any good song should be able to be stripped back to its bare skeleton and still stand up.”

It’s a principle that explains why the emotional honesty of Wild As The Wind remains central to her music, however elaborate her live performances become.

Dressing for the Headline Slot

Jensen recalls people questioning why she gets so dressed up when she’s only opening a show. Her response reveals much about the standards she sets herself.

“I dress for the show that I want, which is the headline spot.”

She believes every audience deserves her best performance, regardless of where she appears on the bill. Every concert is also an opportunity to reach somebody new, and she never knows who might be watching.

When I ask what genuinely difficult ambition she’d like to achieve next, her answer comes naturally: headlining a festival like The Long Road, preferably with plenty of fire and CO₂ cannons.

There’s laughter as we return once again to pyrotechnics, but the ambition is genuine.

For all the talk of chart positions, awards and bigger stages, Jensen’s enthusiasm is perhaps most apparent when she describes the simple privilege of making music for a living.

“I feel so incredibly grateful to be travelling the world doing what I love more than anything in the world,” she says.

Having experienced the loss of someone who never got to enjoy the retirement he had planned, she understands that there are no guarantees about how much time we have to fulfil our ambitions.

For Jensen, backing herself is no longer simply a professional decision. It has become a way of approaching life.

And if that eventually leads to a headline festival performance, complete with flames and CO₂ cannons, you get the feeling she’ll be more than ready.

“I dress for the show that I want, which is the headline spot.”