“Her voice reaches out and simply touches your soul”
The Early Days…
Hayley was born in South London, the youngest of five girls. She attended Linden Lodge School in West London where, even at just eleven, her obvious vocal ability resulted in her singing solo at the Royal Albert Hall (at that time, the youngest ever soloist there).
This led to her recording several singles, and she was invited to appear in television shows “The Wide Awake Club”, and “Going Live”.
Hayley wanted a career in music, but decided to finish her education first. She studied Business Administration at the Royal National College for the Blind in Hereford for 4 years, then at the University of Glamorgan , gaining a BA Honours Degree in Business Studies.
Hayley then moved back to London and entered (and won!) Joe Pasquale’s “Curtain Call” talent showcase in 2002, which led on to several concert appearances, but Hayley really wanted to produce her own album, featuring her favourite genre – Country Music.
Flying Solo…
Hayley started gigging on the UK Country Circuit, and released her first self-produced Album “Two Hearts” in 2006, featuring some of her favourite classic country songs, including the title track “Two Hearts Dancing as one”, written by two of UK’s finest country music writers Sue Bennett and Lorna Flowers. The album received great reviews, got international radio airplay, and won Hayley the Evy of Canada Award for Best New Artist 2007.
Fired up by the reaction to “Two Hearts”, Hayley teamed up with writers, musicians and producers in Nashville, and released her second solo album “I Can Still Dream” in October 2009. Most of the songs on the album were sent directly to Hayley by the songwriters, with the title track again written by a UK country songwriter, Wes Cardy. The fresher material, together with Hayley’s gained experience in the studio, clearly make “I Can Still Dream” her best solo album (so far).
The Hayley Oliver Band Mk 1
Meanwhile, in 2008, Hayley met guitarist Lee Ellis who persuaded her to form “The Hayley Oliver Band”, who released of Naturally in 2010. Recorded in just two days, the album very much reflected the band’s live Country Rock sound.
Hayley and the band were invited to go to Nashville in late 2010, to represent the UK at an international show at the Loveless Café which was broadcast live via the Internet. They returned to Nashville in 2011 to play at the Nashville Palace.
In 2012, the band released Arbinger Grove, featuring Albert Lee, Gerry Hogan and John Permenter. The album got great reviews but, by 2014, conflicting commitments led to Hayley and the band deciding to disband after their final show at the 2014 Truckstop Festival, Denmark.
The Hayley Oliver Band Mk2
Hayley wanted to return to her “Traditional Country” roots, which had proved so popular with fans at solo gigs in clubs and larger theatres so, in 2015, Hayley unveiled her new band line-up on the main stage at the Americana International Festival, gaining rave reviews, and started taking a few select bookings, as all the band members had existing gigs to honour.
In 2016, after a short spell in Texas with Harley Dave, playing acoustic gigs in Austin and being invited to join the Luckenbach “Picker’s Circle”, Hayley returned to headline at the Truckstop Festival, Denmark, with the new band.
In 2017, Hayley and Harley returned to Europe again, playing with The Fabulous Texadillos at Pullman City Harz, Germany, then 2018 and early 2019 saw Hayley and the band playing mostly larger venues such as Warners, Pontins and Country Music festivals.
Going Acoustic….
In late 2019, Covid struck, and lockdown prevented live gigs, so Hayley decided to dust off her guitar and get back into playing it, which resulted in her fronting the band, and playing guitar, when gigs started up again in July, 2021, at Studley Castle (Warners), however the pandemic had taken its toll on the scene and, for 2022/23, Hayley chose to step back from most large shows, and focus more on developing her skills on guitar, which had led on to her wanting to form an acoustic act, recapturing the simple unadorned style that she and Harley so enjoyed while playing at an informal “pickin’ circle” at Luckenbach, during their time in Texas..
….which inspired the idea of creating “Hayley & Harley” in 2024