Ex-Sheffield country singer based in Nashville Sassy Vezay writes song to raise Victoria Cross Trust funds

Having previously made it into the US country charts with her song Slow Dance, Sassy has this month released a ballad called Doncaster and the Kingdom for military charity the Victoria Cross Trust.

She was inspired to write the song after meeting the charity’s patron, ex-Special Forces veteran Rusty Firmin.

He is is now part of Sassy’s management team and all the net profits from Doncaster and the Kingdom – which is released with released alongside festive cover I’ll Be Home for Christmas - go to the charity.

Worksop born and bred, Sassy was a gymnast and dancer who qualified as a fitness instructor at Rother Valley College at Dinnington in 2005, and also went into modelling.

When she saw Shania Twain singing That Don’t Impress Me Much on television, she decided to become a lookalike.

Later, she says: “I started touring England in several tribute bands as Girls Aloud’s Cheryl Cole and Agnetha in Abba. This developed my confidence to become a solo artist in bars and clubs, singing all genres of music, alongside honing my Shania Twain performance act which I took on European tour.”

In 2017, she took her first trip to Nashville, Tennessee, but it was her experiences during the pandemic and the death of parents Helen and Micheal which led to more personal songwriting.

“I lived in Sheffield during those two difficult years, facing the grief of bereavement when both my parents died within a few weeks of each other and my relationship with my fiance ended unexpectedly,” Sassy says.

After her parents died, Sassy left England and fulfilled a promise to her mum, achieving her dream of living in Nashville.

Sassy adds: “I will always be grateful I was able to draw inspiration from my heartache, channelling my loss and grief into writing and recording. I am so glad I could care for my mum during the last year of her life, dying from heart and lung disease. I found it helped to work through the pain of her death by writing long letters to mum every day for the first few months after her passing. It was discovering the healing power of writing under the sun and stars that first showed me I had abilities as a songwriter. Those letters became my next song, Mom, which I co-wrote with artist-songwriter Stephen Wrench in Florida.”

The track will be on Sassy’s full Nashville Omni Studio Live Sessions, scheduled for release in early 2023.

“Never, ever has the journey been a smooth road for me,” she says. “Losing my parents has been such a life-changing experience. Even though I’ve carried on working, it’s slowed me down mentally and physically. I’m still trying to find my way. Without music I’d find it difficult to survive - it heals my heart and soul.”