A MUM-OF-TWO who followed her ambition to be a singer is capping off a whirlwind year by releasing her second single.

Sonya Hurst has launched her second track, Ever After and says the past year has exceeded her expectations since debut song Emily.

Highlights included performing at The Josie Show awards in Nashville last year, after Emily was nominated for three awards at the ceremony.

Sonya was also invited to Germany to perform at the Westernpoint country festival and was nominated again for three awards at this years Josie Music Awards, including pop/alternative artist of the year.

"It has been a better year than I expected," said Sonya, who lives in Sutton.

"Emily went really well and got nominated for some awards. I went out to Nashville and that was my dream. I think I was the only English one nominated, there were people from all over the world."

She released Ever After on December 1 and says the song has a festive feel to make it a suitable Christmas purchase.

"I wrote it about two years ago and I was thinking about how everyone has a different story to tell," added Sonya.

"You can't judge a book by the cover, people go through a lot of different things, it doesn't mean those things are bad so you can turn them into a positive.

"It's got a good Christmas feel to it so that's why I decided to bring it out now.

"I've also done some stuff with Kiera Weathers. She put something out looking for talent and I've done a couple of things with her."