Talented Leyland teenager using lock-down to launch her singing career

But 18-year-old Leyland student Grace Pickup can only currently travel as far as her front room to perform.

Now this talented teenager's dad is trying to get her voice shared far and wide in the hope of starting off her professional career.

Dad-of-three Andrew, said: "She has a hidden talent but she lacks confidence. She's a wonderful, thoughtful and caring person but she's also a bit of a diva. I've said to her that I can see her at Manchester Arena demanding 10 poodles in her dressing room."

Grace, who studies social care at UCLan, says she has sung for as long as she can remember but it wasn't until she began recording herself on her parents' phones at age 12 that she started to take it seriously.

Financial director Andrew, whose other children 16-year-old Beth and 21-year-old Alex are also musical, remembers vividly the first time he and his wife Donna heard their eldest daughter sing.

The 49-year-old said: "She'd recorded a Justin Bieber song on my phone and I thought, 'Wow.'

"I couldn't believe it. I remember walking out of Costa Coffee in tears."

And Grace's parents aren't the only ones to recognise her raw talent, with the singing sensation being scouted to star on The X Factor in 2018, where she made it to the live auditions.

But, she said: "I didn't have the confidence to go through it with."

There were other big moments too, like when she was invited to record a song on SoundCloud after a producer heard her performing on karaoke at age 14 while on holiday in Tenerife. The track has amassed nearly 10,000 plays and Andrew says it took "only two takes to sing perfectly."

And then, after hearing her stunning voice, a couple of DJs invited her to Milan and London to record further dance tracks. But she turned the opportunity down.

"Dance isn't my type of music and I want to be true to myself and be seen the way I want to be seen," said Grace, who names Adele, Ella Henderson and Dolly Parton among her influences.

"I love country music. I am a bit of a grandma really. I'm not really into pop music or the charts. I much prefer songs you can relate to or which make you feel something."

Instead, Grace cut her teeth in the music world by performing in small shows with groups and her school, and undertaking singing lessons.

"When I joined college, I wanted to do musical theatre but my parents didn't want me to have nothing to fall back on. So I chose health and social care so that I'd still have a career I enjoyed if singing didn't work out," she said.

It has also given her time to gain more self-belief, she adds.

"I'm confident at acting but not at singing yet," Grace said.

"With acting, you're hiding behind a character, whereas with singing, people are only judging you, so I get stage fright. And talking in between songs, as a singer, really freaks me out."

The former Runshaw College student has joined a growing collection of young people using social media to tread their own path and build an army of loyal fans before they've even broken into the music industry. Grace's stunning voice can be heard on her Youtube channel, as well as her Facebook and Instagram pages.

"I feel I've done things in my own time. I felt I was doing it more for my mum and dad when I was younger as I wasn't confident enough. But now I'm comfortable and doing it for me," she said.

"It's definitely better this way. Ever since I started posting raw videos of me singing, people have loved them - more than the dance track.

"But it is hard marketing my style on social media. I know it's not something my friends would play at their birthday parties.

"I don't expect to become famous or get into the charts. But the big dream for everybody is to have a successful career in something they love."

She says she would also be open to musical theatre.

"I'd love to perform in musicals. I've watched so many shows at Preston Guild so if an audition came up there, I'd love it," she added.

"But most people want you to have an agent or have been to drama school.

"It's difficult because a lot of singers have been determined to make it since they were young and they've been to drama school. The music industry is very competitive.

"But it's definitely a positive for me that there's not one route. Youtube is really popular now. It takes time to build an audience but you get to be whoever you want to be."

She also writes her own music, mainly about heartbreak, but says she does not dare show it to people just yet.

Lock-down, however, has offered her an opportunity to work on her craft and build up her self-esteem.

"I would actually say it's a good time for me to be in lock-down as my confidence isn't there," she said.

"I've been getting a lot of positive comments and people have said they would book me for a wedding or would love me to gig or audition at their venue. It's a lot to get my head around and now I have the time to do that."

But whether she makes it as a professional performer or not, it is clear that singing will always have a special place in her life.

"The main thing I love about it is when I see my mum and dad get emotional when I sing. I send my grandma videos and she rings me crying," she said.

"My family is so supportive. At every party they get me on stage and they're crying their eyes out. I do just love making them proud."

To check out her material, search for Grace Shannonn Sings on Youtube, Facebook and Instagram, or if you can help her advance her career, please contact her dad via Facebook or on [email protected]

And to hear Grace's SoundCloud cover, Yours, visit https://soundcloud.com/andrew-david-pickup/yours