Regional Aussie Country Artist Michael Saleta Announces Move To Nashville

From the regional city of Sale in the Gippsland region to the USA: Australian country singer and songwriter Michael Saleta has announced his move to Nashville amid signing a publishing deal of a lifetime.

Joining forces with Debbie Z Entertainment LLC, the group that discovered Blake Shelton, Walker Hayes, and Sarah Buxton, Saleta’s 100% independent career is about to blow up into the big time.

The singer-songwriter has been on the touring circuit for years, uploading songs to Soundcloud and YouTube, with Saleta having performed at the iconic Nashville space, The Bluebird Café, as far back as four years ago.

As well as singing and performing his own songs, Saleta has developed a reputation as a prolific songwriter, recently working with fellow Aussies Zac & George and industry heavyweights Jetty Road and Troy Kemp.

“Signing this deal was overwhelming; it felt like a lifetime's worth of songwriting and creating music had finally been recognised. All those years of working at it and keeping the faith paid off,” Saleta told Countrytown.

He continued, “Having someone with Debbie’s experience believe in me enough to sign me is inspiring, and I'm extremely grateful. I'm excited to see what the next chapter of my songwriting journey brings in Nashville.”

Debbie Z added, “Michael is an incredibly talented songwriter, and I believe he has what it takes, which is why it's my pleasure to work with him on his craft and support his songwriter journey with this publishing deal.”

Michael Saleta was “raised on rock and roll”, as his family had an affinity for the likes of Elvis Presley and Charley Pride – by the time he entered his teenage years, Saleta was more into the hair and heavy metal bands of the 80s, such as Poison and Van Halen.

Throughout his career, which broke through in 2002 with the song Stronger Now that he wrote for Nicole McLean, a survivor of the Bali Bombings, Saleta has performed at Parliament House in Canberra as well as opened for legendary artists such as Toto, Hanson, Eric Martin (Mr Big), Jimmy Barnes, Thirsty Merc, Screaming Jets, Killing Heidi, and Taxiride.

You can listen to one of Saleta’s newest songs below.