The title track of Lindi Ortega’s career-making third album Tin Star is a tribute to those struggling musically.

And it’s a song the Canadian singer-songwriter admits she couldn’t have written without having been through the mill herself.

“It’s a tribute to people who are very talented but don’t have that bit of luck that other people get which allows them to move up the ranks,” she says, on the way to a show in Birmingham.

“They continue to press upward and forward, which is a testament to their love and passion for what they do.

“There’s no way I could write a song like that unless I had been that person – and still am. It’s great this record is selling out shows here and there, but there are still areas we play where we are still starting out.

“I can very much relate to struggling musicians as I’m one of them!”

In the past three years since the alt-country singer signed to Last Gang Records, she has written, recorded and released three albums, which have seen her profile rise and rise.

Her 2011 debut on Last Gang, Little Red Boots – named after her distinctive stage footwear – was longlisted for the Canadian Polaris Music Prize, and earned her two Juno Award nominations for new artist of the year and solo roots and traditional album. Her 2012 follow-up Cigarettes And Truckstops also got a nod for the Polaris prize last year.

Tin Star, which came out last October, was named number two in Entertainment Weekly’s best country albums of 2013 – losing out to Jason Isbell, who came to Brighton in November courtesy of promoters Brighthelmstone and One Inch Badge. In third place was Sturgill Simpson, who Brighthelmstone are bringing to The Palmeira, in Cromwell Road, Hove, on Valentine’s Day.

“I don’t know why this record is resonating so much more than the other ones,” says Ortega, whose Brighton gig had just been upgraded from The Hope in Queen’s Road to The Haunt in Pool Valley the day we spoke.

“It’s the first one I made while officially living in Nashville, but the last one was recorded in Nashville too.”

Ortega moved to Nashville after making her name on her hometown Toronto scene. Between 2001 and 2008 she had self-produced two albums and an EP to sell at shows – a marked difference from her current work-rate.

“I wanted to move to Nashville because of the history,” she says. “I read a lot of biographies about Johnny Cash and Hank Williams which always talk about Nashville. I wanted to learn about the place and see where the action was.

“Toronto didn’t really have much for me – I couldn’t really spread my wings there, and the opportunities weren’t available. I now sing much more backing vocals on other people’s records and get called in to co-write stuff. I feel like I’m more musical than I was in Toronto.”

Country heroes

She puts her love of country music down to her mother’s extensive record collection.

“I loved all the old country heroes – Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash,” she says. “I used to watch the Dolly Parton variety shows with my mom.”

There was one song which really resonated with her.

“I guess Hank Williams’s I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry really sparked my desire to start creating my own brand of country music,” she says.

“I love the scenery in the song and how he describes everything in such a lonely way. Other people could describe that same scenery and not see the same thing. Having that take on his emotions – it’s brilliant the way he does it.”

There is a certain amount of darkness in some of her own songs, which she says comes directly from her own personal struggles.

“Life is a series of good and bad, ups and downs,” she says.

“Nobody is ever predominantly happy – there is always some crisis that will bring sorrow and sadness. They are emotions human beings go through – we all relate to it because we all go through it in some form.”

Her main focus is on her current tour, although she admits she is planning to take a breather from her breakneck schedule of album releases.

“I’m toying with an idea of a concept album, doing something different,” she says. “I’ll need time to let it stew and figure out what I’m going to do.

“I’m always writing, so there will probably be some live thing or EP before the next full album, but it won’t be as rapid as the first three albums.

“Going to different cities and having new experiences, being all over the place is inspiring.

“It’s not easy to write in a hotel room or on the road – I write when I get off the road and I have a bunch of time to myself.”

Support from Tom Hickox.