Kiwi Country Singer Jody Direen Signs With Bear Grylls Talent Management

New Zealand country music singer Jody Direen is set to conquer the international music scene. A chance meeting has provided an opportunity for the Wanaka songstress to be signed by Bear Grylls Ventures, a U.S.-based talent management.

BGV is the headed by British adventurer Bear Grylls, who is best known for his TV series “Man Vs Wild.”

According to the Otago Daily Times, the 24-year-old singer was performing at Wanaka’s Lone Star restaurant in a “one-off bar gig” on St Patrick’s Day in March when BGV employees approached her after her set.

“They said: ‘We think you deserve to get more exposure,’” Direen, who only usually only sang at private functions, told the paper.

The group of employees were only at the venue because “it was a rainy day,” which means that they could not film the reality show “Get Out Alive with Bear Grylls” in the Matukituki Valley and Mount Aspiring National Park.

Direen won the highly coveted Horizon award at the 7th annual National Country Music Awards in Hamilton in August 2012. As part of her prize, she would have to represent New Zealand in the Telstra Road to Tamworth in Australia and will compete in the Global Artists Awards in Nashville in the U.S.

Three weeks after her chance meeting with the BGV employees, she was due to fly to the U.S. for the Global Artists Awards. BGV then asked her to spend two days in Los Angeles with the company. While in L.A., she had a meeting and had performed in Hollywood for 19 Entertainment, the talent agency that manages music superstars like pop star Jennifer Lopez and country music star Carrie Underwood.

She signed a management contract with BGV six weeks later.

“We have already achieved so much in a couple of months,” Direen was quoted by the Otago Daily Times as saying.

“We want to share her talent with the masses – from there, the sky is the limit,” BGV talent manager CH Cardenas said, describing the young singer as “an amazing entertainer with the vocal talent to make it far in the music industry.”

Direen, whose new single “Loud” is due for release on September 23, has been confirmed to become a headlining act at the 2013 Willowridge WanakaFest on October 26.

She isn’t the only Kiwi singer who has a promising international career. 16-year-old Lorde has just made history when she topped the U.S. Billboard’s alternative chart this month of August. It’s the first time in 17 years that a female solo act has nabbed the top spot of the chart.

Jody Direen’s announcement:

Performing “Coming to Town” in 2011