Continuing the theme of inspirational teens, I interviewed a phenomenal singer/songwriter, Amy-Jo Clough last week.
Beautiful, talented and with a voice to die for, (I’m not at all jealous) Amy-Jo is destined for stardom.
You saw her here first.
While most 15-year-olds will be spending their summer taking a well-earned break from their GCSE exams, one young lady from Bolton-le-Sands, Carnforth, will spend hers paving the way for her future.
Amy-Jo Clough will be jetting off to Nashville, Tennesse in America after being spotted as she sang as the guest singer at the Miss Galaxy beauty pageant at Park Hall Hotel, Charnock Richard.
Amy-Jo says, “I was performing five songs a night for four nights, while the judges went off to deliberate the overall winners.
“On the third night I was offered the chance to go out to Nashville to work with some songwriters and to do some recording.”
For the Carnforth High School student, the opportunity to spend summer in America’s music capital, home to Dolly Parton, Keith Urban, Taylor Swift and Garth Brooks, to name but a few, is the opportunity of a lifetime.
“I’m really excited, it’s a place I’ve always wanted to go and my friends are really excited about me going too,” says Amy-Jo, who has been singing professionally since she was 11 years old. “They keep saying ‘that’s where Taylor Swift is from’ and all that sort of stuff, they’re really supportive.”
Amy-Jo, who performed at Preston Christmas lights switch on in front of 10,000 people, will spend three weeks in Nashville, accompanied by her mum and dad, recording, writing and researching open mic nights to get her music known.
And it looks as though it won’t be long until her self-penned songs will be on radio playlists around the country after her song, ‘Sorry For’ was played on BBC Radio Lancashire; a moment Amy-Jo describes as “really weird but really cool at the same time.”
“I want to record a whole album of my own songs” she adds, “I’m halfway doing that, I have eight finished and a lot more half written.
“The songs I write are quite country but the songs I cover are soul like Amy Winehouse, Etta James and Adele, so a bit of mix really.”
At the moment Amy-Jo is busy revising for her exams but continues to write her own music on her guitar and piano, both of which she taught herself to play two years ago.
Something her brothers, aged 21 and 26, are both pleased about.
“My brothers get annoyed at me singing around the house all the time,” she laughs, “but I think they like it really.
She is also looking forward to supporting Britain’s Got Talent finalists, Re-Connected in May, who are currently at number 32 in the UK charts and continues to be the guest singer for Miss England, rounds take place across the North West for the rest of the year.
For more about Amy-Jo, visit her YouTube video here to listen to some of her music.
The Sweetness of Doing Nothing 