songwriter/bassist Don Rogers, drummer Sean Fitzgerald, guitarists Alex Rogers and Alex Sharman from the London-based band Starling, and keyboard player Maki. The band described their sound as "a mixture of classic singer-songwriter melodies with a country flavour." 2011–12: The X Factor In 2011, Poole auditioned for the eighth series of The X Factor. She reached the "judges' houses" stage, where Louis Walsh was her mentor in the "over 25s" category, but failed to progress through to the live shows, with Walsh instead choosing Johnny Robinson, Kitty Brucknell, Jonjo Kerr and Goldie Cheung (who later dropped out and was replaced by Sami Brookes). Poole auditioned again for the ninth series, and made it to the live shows with Gary Barlow as her mentor. In the first week of the live shows, Poole sang Nicki Minaj's "Starships". Despite positive comments, however, she was in the bottom two the following night with controversial "boys" contestant Rylan Clark. Nicole Scherzinger voted against Poole as Clark was in her category, while Gary Barlow and Tulisa voted to eliminate Clark based on the final showdown performance. This meant Walsh had the casting vote, but he appeared unable to make up his mind. After hesitating for some time, he eventually said "I'm going to with Carolynne, I want to keep Carolynne.", although he had to say who wanted to send home, not who he wanted to save. Eventually, after being pressured for an answer by presenter Dermot O'Leary, Walsh made his decision by saying, "I want to take it to deadlock!". O'Leary then revealed that Poole had received the fewest public votes and she was sent home, much to the disgust of Barlow, who stormed off stage and later called Clark a "joke act" and "talentless". 2014–present: Debut album Following The X Factor, Poole relocated to the United States for five months. She spent time gigging in Arizona and Los Angeles as well as in Nashville, Tennessee, commonly known as the "home of country", where she collaborated with songwriters and producers including Jeff Silbar. In 2014 and 2015, she played at the C2C: Country to Country festival in London. In early 2015, Poole received radio airplay on BBC Radio 2 Country with a song titled "Cupid Must've Been High". Later Poole released her debut single, "I Love You but Shut Up", which features guitar-playing by Albert Lee. The single was play listed on BBC Radio 2, which