Kiwi country music star Kaylee Bell says winning one of the biggest country music awards saw her "tripping out" on the red carpet.
Bell took out the Jeff Walker Global Country Artist award at the Country Music Association Awards (CMAs) on Thursday, the biggest annual event for country music worldwide.
The award recognises outstanding achievements by a country music artist signed outside of the US.
Bell told AM host Ryan Bridge the win was a "wild ride".
"The award was a surprise. There was Post Malone on one side [of the red carpet] and Luke Combs on the other - that was tripping me out," she laughed.
"It's very, very wild - it's been a crazy ride and a crazy night. The CMAs had stitched the whole thing up, they'd just said I was doing an interview for Australia!" she revealed to AM after being presented with the award live at the event.
"Country music is massive here, it's the number one genre, to have my name mentioned in those circles, to have a song on the Billboard charts, it's just wild."
"Country music has just exploded in New Zealand, Luke Combs has been on the radio, The Chicks have just toured - it's really having a moment now."
Bell told AM she was thrilled with her success, given how she was being discovered by fans rather than big-name backing.
"I'm still self-managed, I don't have a label, the power of social media, the power of TikTok, people are connecting with the songs."
Bell has released a new single 'Good Things' on Friday.
Watch the interview above.
