KIRSTY Lee Akers has had a taste of television and she wants more.
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Fresh from her and husband Jesse Anderson's star-turning appearance on reality TV show The Block, the Kurri Kurri-bred country-pop star is plotting the next stage of her career.
The couple's house in the Melbourne Bayside suburb of Hampton fetched $4.4 million at The Block's auction, leaving them with $300,000 profit to cover the cost of their planned renovations to their Wangi Wangi home.
"We're obviously incredibly grateful as it's going to give us the push we need to finish renovating our house, and of course, I'm going on tour," Akers said.
Money aside, Akers is hopeful The Block will deliver a major mainstream push to her two-time Golden Guitar-winning music career, and maybe lead to further TV roles.
"We can't be happier with how we walked away," she said.
"We were just ourselves on the show and I think we walked away with our reputations intact the most.
"I'm looking forward to what the future holds and if that is doing more TV stuff.
"I don't know if Jesse ever wants to do more TV work again, it's not his thing at all, but he'll definitely be working on the house and doing more property development and leave the TV stuff to me."
The new year is expected to be a massive one for the 33-year-old. She'll kick off with her largest ever show at Wests Tamworth during the Tamworth Country Music Festival on January 22, before a string of other dates.
Akers will also release her sixth album in 2022 and first on her own label, Rider Records, which she launched this year with Anderson and manager Perrin Finlay-Brown.
"I think it'll give me more creative freedom," she said. "I've been lucky to be signed to all different kinds of labels throughout my career over 15-plus years.
"I've always wanted to have total control of my music and how I do things. We released the first single a couple of weeks ago and that is going well and it's called For Love.
"It's a bit daunting obviously because you don't have anyone else to fall back on."
Akers signed her first record deal at 18 after she was crowned Star Maker in Tamworth in 2007. However, she quickly became dissatisfied with her debut album Little Things.
"I used to write my own songs but I had maybe one original song on my first album which was really strange for me at the time because I only ever sang my own songs," she said.
"But the label [Compass Bros] at the time wanted me to record different songs, and when I look back now I wish I had that support to record my own music."
Kirsty Lee Akers headlines The Lake Mac Carols at Speers Point Park on December 12.
Josh Leeson
Josh Leeson is an entertainment and features journalist, specialising in music, at the Newcastle Herald. He first joined the masthead in 2008 after stints at the Namoi Valley Independent and Port Stephens Examiner and has previously covered sport including the Asian Cup, A-League, Surfest, cricket and rugby league.
Josh Leeson is an entertainment and features journalist, specialising in music, at the Newcastle Herald. He first joined the masthead in 2008 after stints at the Namoi Valley Independent and Port Stephens Examiner and has previously covered sport including the Asian Cup, A-League, Surfest, cricket and rugby league.
