The question I’m constantly asked is how I found that invisible ingredient which pushed me to follow my dream, where that determination came from to enter one of the harshest jobs out there. But strip back the spotlights and you’ll see that I’m just a normal girl from London doing what I love - music. If there’s passion in your bones I don’t think that’s something you can ignore, so from the moment I began singing and dancing around the house as a toddler, I knew that music was going to be my future. Any of you reading this who have a burning desire will know exactly what I mean, you just can’t push it aside. So I went for it!
Lucy-May
Discovering The Brit School was a game changer for me, that’s when the chance to step from mainstream to fame-stream became a reality. Mum and dad supported my decision to leave my secondary school early and at the tender age of 14 I proudly became a Brit School student. Being there is literally like being in Fame. Lots of amazingly, talented people have come from my school including Adele, Jessie J, Katie Melua, Dane Bowers, Lindon David Hall, but I studied alongside one of my favourite artists, Amy Winehouse, who was in my year. What a year group we were!
It felt as if star-dust had literally been sprinkled over me when I graduated and instantly joined a gorgeous pop/soul girl band, strutting on the opening stages for the likes of Joe, Genuine and Alexandar O’Neal. We parted after about 8 years of gigging and having a lot of fun and I turned my lyrical pen to country music. I’d always loved mimicking Patsy Cline growing up and newer country sounds like Rascal Flatts were really grabbing my attention, it felt as if country was calling me. Those early seeds of the sound that I am today began flourish.
Next stop Nashville, where I began writing my debut album ‘Whirlwind’ with the incredible songwriter, Jeff Cohen and he invited me to Nashville to write with him. To say that the experience was mind-blowing would be an understatement and my debut single ‘Paper Heart’ from that album was instantly play listed at BBC Radio 2 with Sir Terry Wogan saying that I would be ‘the next star’. Imagine that!
But there was still more to me. I’m a little bit country, but I wanted to throw a few more ingredients in there too. I was brought up on a diet of 60’s music and I love Motown too! Stevie Wonder, Dusty Springfield, The Supremes and The Beatles, there’s a dash of all of them in me. My first album was very much Country/Pop and for my second album I really wanted to go back to my roots a bit more so I’ve fused flecks of country with soul music. I am Lucy-May and I am me. Brining you my distinctive beehive hairstyle and modern but retro look, fused with my Patsy Cline/Dusty Springfield cocktail of sound, I’m unique to the core. So to answer those who asked me where I found that invisible ingredient, it came from me. Look inside, you’ll find yours too!