Brianna’s winning feeling
Brianna Hedley is joining a long line of successful young singers from New Zealand’s home of country music.
The 12-year-old has just picked up the junior title at the New Zealand Entertainer of the Year competition in Rotorua, hot off the heels of winning the junior solo competition of the New Zealand Gold Guitars Awards in her home town of Gore earlier this year.
Her star is starting to rise, and while she has her heart firmly set on singing at Nashville, she knows there’s a long way to go before she gets there.
‘‘I’ve been singing for six years and I’m getting more and more confident.’’
And it shows. There were five finalists in the junior section and some were previous title winners. She performed He by Tammy Wynette and Some Days You Gotta Dance by the Dixie Chicks.
‘‘I was really shocked – I wasn’t expecting that. There was a really high standard and right through the competition there were lots of new faces I had never seen before so it was good to make friends with them.’’ Brianna won cash and a new Fender guitar for her efforts.
‘‘I sing every day, whether it’s in the shower or up in my room with my guitar.’’
A member of the Gore Country Music Club, she sings at practice nights once a month and credits her singing tutor, Jacinta Kerepiti, with her new-found confidence.
‘‘When I’m building up to a competition I go and see her once a week, otherwise it’s once a month.’’
She’ll be the guest artist at the Gold’n Notes Hoedown at Cromwell next month and will take to the stage with Gold Guitar winner Alice Fraser at a fundraising concert at the end of this month.
They’re all little steps towards her Nashville dream. ‘‘That’s where I’d love to go in my music career – that would be the best thing ever.’’