THE NEW QUEEN OF COUNTRY
years, Murwillumbah After wowing music buffs for three to the home of country schoolgirl Emmagen Rain, 10, is heading her debut single. music, Nashville in the US, to record
Murwillumbah singer heading to Nashville to record her debut single at just ten years of age
At just 10 years old, the future looks as big as the country skies for talented singer Emmagen Rain. She’s already made waves at Tamworth and next up is Nashville, USA FOR most young girls, watching on screen or standing on stage is the closest they’ll ever get to being a part of the music scene.
For 10-year-old Emmagen Rain, that is one “glass ceiling” shattered long ago.
After taking out the People’s Choice Award at the Tamworth Country Music Festival, the
Murwillumbah schoolgirl has set her sights on Nashville.
She started vocal lessons and competitions at the age of seven, but her career began long before then, according to mum Justine Rain.
“As soon as she could talk she started singing, and she sung in perfect tune and loud. So I put her in singing lessons and she pretty much has gone from strength to strength since then,” she said.
“I guess it’s quite surreal at
times, because we’ve been getting busier and busier with her, but I guess I’ve always believed in her. I always knew she had something special.”
Her talent has even caught the attention of music scouts in Tamworth, where the competition is fierce alongside the biggest names in Australian country music.
“She was busking and I think it was the second day she was there, and I sort of knew this guy was watching her,” Ms Rain said. “It was a big crowd, but he stood out, and then he came up to me, and he was very serious and very matter-of-fact.
“He said: ‘She’s the best singer by far along the whole street. She’s the best busker here and she’s the best that’s been here in so many years’.”
It’s just one of dozens of stories that have followed the young star since she started her career.
Now in her third year of vocal training, Emmagen will head to the Country Music Association of Australia’s Academy of Country Music alongside 23 other aspiring artists.
Over the course of nine days the students, aged between 10 and 18, will experience intense song writing and performance training under some of country music’s biggest stars. All this will go on as their parents are taught just what it means to raise and manage a rising star.
The academy is no stranger to famous faces — including Jessica Mauboy, the Sunny Cowgirls and previous winners of The Voice — and Emmagen hopes to put her name among them.
She’s already feeling the fame, picking up on a jealous streak among one of her classmates in particular.
“She always says she’s the best singer, but there’s not really any competition,” she said.
When her time at the academy is up, she’ll head straight off to Nashville, Tennessee, to write, perform and record her debut single.
As she moves up in the world, with Justine and her partner Adrian both taking university courses to learn how to manage her career, she already knows what she wants in life.
“The end goal is to get lots of money for being a singer,” she said, though it is for a different reason than you might think.
“I want to give it to the poor, and the homeless, and then I want to help kids who don’t have enough food and clothes, so I’ll donate lots of money to that. Then I’ll buy my parents a home … and I just want to share.”