She graduates as a registered nurse this spring but after that, Heidi Raye is off to Nashville. The 21-year-old country music singer and musician from Dawson Creek is in her fourth year of studies at UNBC. She’s studied hard and learned lots but country music has won her heart.

“I began singing in church when I was three (and acting in local musical theatre productions at five) and over the years I’ve continued to work hard in the business,” she told the Free Press.

Her self-titled debut album was recorded in Nashville in December 2008, produced by Arlo Gilliam from Grammy-nominated group Emerson Drive.

Since Dec. 2, two singles off the album – My List and Never the Bride – were released to Canadian Radio and still get airplay coast to coast.

Last month she attended the CCMA awards ceremony (in the company of Emerson Drive) and during Christmas break, she’ll be in Nashville songwriting, networking and recording. And if there’s any doubt Raye’s music career is taking off like a rocket, a third song she penned, Last Flame, is one of 25 top songs in a major Nashville song writing contest.

The winner will be announced Nov. 1.

“I wrote Last Flame on the plane ride home from Nashville in June 2008. I remember coming up with the title first, thinking about past boyfriends or the last flame I had. Then it hit me,” Raye said.

“It’s a sassy song about revenge, about being strong when someone you love or had loved has misbehaved and you know you don’t deserve that. When the idea hit me, I wrote the song in about 20 minutes. It just clicked.”

The song came together like a dream.

“I pictured the chords in my head and heard the melody, not knowing if – when I actually got to my guitar – it would work or not.

“When I got home, the first thing I did was grab the guitar and start playing the song. I remember playing it through the first time as if I had played it a hundred times.”

Raye’s parents put her in voice, piano, dance and guitar lessons and they’re the first people who get to hear her new songs.

“I always play my songs for my parents first. They’re my first critique who give the thumbs up or down. After I played Last Flame for them, they both gave the thumbs up. Six months later, I recorded it on my debut album and now it’s been chosen as one of the top 25 songs in the Nashville Songwriting Competition.”

Becoming a country singer-songwriter was a natural fit for Raye, who was raised on a farm where she rode horses, drove machinery and became, according to her website, “a true country girl.”

The talented artist plays guitar, classical piano, keys, mandolin, harmonica and trumpet. She’s opened for Randy Travis and Emerson Drive and shared the stage with acts like Aaron Pritchett, Gord Bamford, Johnny Reid, and High Valley. She’s also been a three-time semi-finalist in the Pacific National Exhibition Talent Search and placed in the Top 100 for Canadian Idol.

For more information about Heidi Raye or to hear her tunes, visit www.heidiraye.com and www.myspace.com/heidirayemusic.