IT'S AN exciting year ahead for Gladstone-born musician Hayley Marsten.

The country music artist will be touring with Sydney based country singer songwriter Arna Georgia later this month.

The Broke and Single Tour, starting out in Sydney on March 22, will see the duo make their way up the coast and hold their final performance in Gladstone on April Fool's Day.

The name of the tour is no joke though.

Marsten said as an independent artist, it was a constant challenge to make ends meet.

"My day job is in retail, I don't get a great deal of cash flow through," she said.

For this reason, Marsten has chosen to apply for the Carol Lloyd Award - a Queensland-wide competition that grants $15000 to an up and coming female artist.

"It would make a huge difference," Marsten said when asked what winning the award would do for her.

She said it would have been "financially impossible" without the help of funding bodies to progress her music career.

"I'm really lucky to have been supported by RADF (Gladstone Regional Art Development Fund) and other grants previously."

Despite the inconsistent pay and the long hours on the road, Marsten's passion will see her head to country music' s spiritual home - Nashville - later this year.

She's also planning to release her first album, though she said its creation is still in its infancy.

It will carry on from her previous work she said, and it will be very honest.

"I think the last few months I've felt a change in my writing, in myself, " she said.

"I'll say whatever I want. I feel (country music) is really a genre where people want to know (the truth)."