Tony Cummings charts the extraordinary career-so-far of singer/songwriter KRISTYNA MYLES

Kristyna Myles

When a singer after years of endeavour finally lands the dreamed-of major record contract you don't expect them to announce that they are undertaking a 10,000 mile tour of the UK to help the homeless. But then again, Kristyna Myles is no ordinary artist. The singer, who has signed a two million pounds record deal with Decca Records, is currently zig-zagging across the UK doing concerts in her efforts to raise 250 thousand pounds for the homeless people's charity Centrepoint. Said Kristyna, "The tour is about sticking to my roots, showing people where I have come from and what I can do. It's amazing to be able to represent a charity like Centrepoint and to be able to offer help to others. Due to my busking, I have seen its work first-hand and I hope this campaign enables me to give something back to those in most need."

Kristyna was born and raised in Leicestershire. She attended Thomas Estley Community College in Broughton Astley before moving to Lutterworth Grammar School (now Lutterworth College) at the age of 14. She was already a precocious musical talent. She studied flute with the renowned Elizabeth Hextall and by the age of 16 she was invited by Basement Jaxx to audition for the lead vocals in their single "Romeo". In 2002 she was accepted into the University of Salford, where she studied Popular Music and Recording and was in the same year as Manchester bands Delphic and Everything Everything.

While studying at university, Myles formed a band and won a national songwriting competition. This led to her having her song "Thank You" released as a single in Holland and performing in Amsterdam for the launch party. But after graduation the singer/songwriter made an unexpected move and began to busk on the streets of Manchester. It was as a supremely talented busker that she came to the attention of a mass audience. In 2005 Kristyna represented Manchester on BBC Radio 5 Live's Busk Idol talent search and, with her guitarist Ben Williams, proceeded to win the competition.

Her busking success brought Kristyna to the attention of British singer Chris de Burgh, who invited her to record a duet entitled "Raging Storm" with him at London's Abbey Road Studios, for his latest album The Storyman. Myles performed the song with de Burgh at one of his concerts at the NEC Arena in Birmingham in 2006 and on the television show Wogan Now & Then. She was subsequently offered an opening slot on nine dates of de Burgh's 2006 European tour, which saw her perform in cities such as Frankfurt, Munich and Amsterdam. Kristyna told Cross Rhythms broadcaster Chris Mountford, "I learned so much from him. I was performing in front of 8,000 people a night - an absolute dream come true, given that opportunity."

Kristyna was asked if there was any difference between singing to a few people on the streets and singing before a vast crowd. She said, "When you're on a stage like the NEC or a massive arena in Germany, you can only see the first couple of rows because the lights are so bright in your face. The aspect of sitting and listening is similar, people are listening and appreciating the music but with busking, the majority of people will just walk past, but the people that really like you will stand around for a few songs and actually listen and pay attention."

Kristyna has a strong Christian faith and in 2006 she was featured in a Manchester- themed episode of the BBC's Songs Of Praise, where she performed her own composition "My Lord". In January 2007, Myles returned to the city centre of Manchester to help guitarist Andy Rourke and the annual charity concert Versus Cancer set a world record for largest group busk! Then in April Kristyna performed with de Burgh and singer Aled Jones on the television programme Play It Again. In 2007 Kristyna recorded a digital download EP 'One Of A Kind'. The following year Myles was the only unsigned artist to feature on the Universal Music compilation album 'Songbird 2008', with "My Lord", a track from 'One Of A Kind'. In July she supported Mick Hucknall on part of his UK tour, playing at venues such as Echo Arena Liverpool and in October she performed at Oxjam events in Lancaster, Lancashire, alongside Joe De Luca and Mike Dignam. During the next year she recorded a duet named "Making Movies" with jazz singer Rick Guard for his 2009 album 'Anyone But Me'. That August, Myles was nominated for Best Gospel Act at the MOBO Awards 2009 as part of the gospel collective DTWG: Desire To Worship God, but lost out to Victizzle. Throughout 2010 and '11 Myles has been performing at venues and festivals across the UK and Europe.

Now that she has signed with Decca, things have finally moved into top gear for Kristyna. "I have been recording with producer Ken Nelson; he's an amazing producer. He won three Grammy awards and has worked with Coldplay and The Charlatans so it was amazing to get the first choice producer that we asked for. It's quite recent, recording music that I'm really proud of and I can't wait to have the album, which is called 'Pinch Me Quick', out in the shops."

Despite all the recording and touring Kristyna remains very grounded in her faith. "I go to church as often as I can on Sundays, when I'm not touring. I go to Audacious City church in Manchester. My faith is important and although the album isn't strictly a Christian album, obviously I am a Christian so I want God to shine through me in my music, not necessarily saying Jesus or God in any of it but to reflect my values and beliefs as a Christian."