Tech

Taylor Swift fan Catherine McGrath remembers bursting into floods of tears and getting a hug from her idol when she met her at a show. “I was such a fangirl,” she says. “But she was really nice and hugged me a lot which was sweet.”

Now 20-year-old blossoming Northern Irish singer Catherine is firmly on the road to country-pop stardom of her own.

A sparkling presence, captivating vocals and input from composers who wrote chart smashes for Swift, One Direction and Kelly Clarkson, surely ensures this will be her breakthrough year.

And it will be sweet vindication for the young singer-songwriter who found her love of country music went against the grain, growing up in Rostrevor, County Down. “People didn’t understand the genre and thought it wasn’t cool,” she says. “But that’s one of the coolest parts of getting to make my own music – because I’ve been on tours now where there are rooms full of people who love country just as much as I do.

“I’m so glad I didn’t stop listening to country to try to fit in because I wouldn’t have ended up getting to do what I do now.”

Like many country stars past and present, Catherine’s musical personality is rooted in her family.

“My dad wrote his own songs, so did my grandma and all of the extended family,” she says. “Mum and dad playing music, people at our parties bringing instruments and singing – that was part of what made me want to play too.”

Playing on YouTube got Catherine discovered by her London manager, and landed her a major label deal and trips to Nashville, Tennessee.

“The songwriters there are always full of new ideas,” she says. “Sometimes they write three songs in a day, and they keep on trying to write more and write better.

“That’s really inspiring to be around.”

Although she would like to settle back in Northern