Aleyce Simmonds is an Australian country music recording artist and singer-songwriter. Simmonds' accolades include the Telstra Road to Tamworth Winner in 2004. As a part of her prize Aleyce visited Nashville and recorded a successful single, "Mighty, Mighty Love". Simmonds also won an APRA Award, in 2017 for Country Work of the Year, with her song "Greatest Companion". She won Australian and National Duet of the year winner with Paul Costa for "The Way You Make Me Feel" in 2007. Simmonds received her 7th Golden Guitar nomination in 2017. In 2014, Simmonds won Female Artist of the Year at the Australian Independent Country Music Awards for 2014. In October 2015, Simmonds was named Australian Independent Artist of the Year, Female Vocalist of the Year and awarded Best Country Single of the Year.
Music career
Simmonds released her debut album in 2011 and 4 subsequent radio singles and music videos for "The Keeper", "When I Say Too Much", "The Healing Hands of Time" and "Bondwood Boat". All singles except "Bondwood Boat" achieved chart positions inside top 20. Simmonds was nominated for three Golden Guitar awards at the Country Music awards of Australia, The Healing Hands of Time, written with the album's producer Rod McCormack being nominated for Female Artist of the Year and New Talent of the Year and "Bondwood Boat" written with Graeme Connors being nominated for Heritage Song of the year. She performed the song with Connors at the Golden Guitars. Simmonds was a finalist at the 2016 Golden Guitar Awards for APRA AMCOS Song of the Year with her song "Joshua", about her stillborn baby brother. "Joshua" was awarded the No. 1 spot on the 88.9FM Tamworth Country Music Top 20 charts for 2015. Aleyce also secured No. 12 with "It Finds Us Anyway" and No. 14 with "The Greatest Companion" on the local station's countdown. At the APRA Music Awards of 2017 Simmonds won the category, Country Work of the Year, with her song, "Greatest Companion"; it was inspired by being in the studio with Luke Bona on 2UE. It's about how important overnight radio is to so many people. Aleyce was blown away by the amazing callers Bona receives throughout the night and how important the radio is to them.
Personal life
Aleyce Simmonds was born on 6 December 1986 in Port Macquarie, New South Wales and moved when she was age 12 to Tamworth. At age 13, Aleyce entered her first talent quest but did not win. Then at the age of 16 she entered the Country Capital Music Association's Talent Quest. She was voted the best overall artist under the age of 16 and won $1,000, with which she brought her first guitar. She started writing songs and found she had a natural country sound, and by age 15 she was playing gigs in pubs around Tamworth. While Simmonds still tours regularly, she is currently living on her parents' hundred-acre property outside of Tamworth, where she spends weekdays writing songs before hitting the road to tour on the weekends. Simmonds is the host for BalconyTV Tamworth. An online music show that features bands, musicians and other variety acts on balconies around the world. Tamworth is the only city in Australia that is not a Capital City that has BalconyTV. It is in association with the Tamworth Country Music Festival.
