Northampton’s equivalent of the Carpenters have been nominated for a top music prize at Northamptonshire Local Music Awards.

Tu-kay & Ryan are an award winning acoustic duo who write their own records and even topped the Amazon Folk New Releases and Bestsellers charts in May with their single Temporal Drifter.

One half of the musical duo is Rebecca Buckley, who is by day, an English and Expressive Arts Teacher at the St Andrew’s Health Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) College.

They have been performing together since 2018, playing at gigs in pubs, clubs, weddings, clubs and festivals both in the UK and internationally.

Now, they are celebrating having been shortlisted at the music awards, which will take place on Thursday 15th September.

Rebecca and her musical partner Ash Tu-kay have been nominated in two categories which are Acoustic/Folk artist of the year and EP/Album of the year.

Rebecca said: “We’re thrilled to have been nominated as we’re going up against some really talented local artists. Just to be shortlisted is so exciting, and I know you’re not supposed to say this, but we would love to win. Voting closes on Friday, so it would mean so much if my colleagues at St Andrew’s Healthcare could get behind us.

“Next to my work at CAMHS, music is my passion and I’m grateful as I’ve actually managed to combine the two recently. I’ve written a couple of songs before, which were dedicated to the young people I work with because they inspire me everyday. Their tenacity, their spirit and their motivation is just incredible and one day I came home from work and just wrote and wrote. The young people love to hear my music and it would be amazing to tell them all that we won at the awards.”

To date Tu-kay & Ryan have to date released 3 EPs, 'Echo' and 'Pages' (2019), and 'Passage Of Time' (2021), all of which have received glowing reviews from folk clubs and local press. They have since received global radio play for singles released in 2021.

To vote for Tu-kay & Ryan, click here and here.