Young country star still pinching herself after stratospheric rise to the big time

Lucy Bell (23), from Downpatrick, has performed around the world, from Glenarm’s Camp Dalfest to Tennessee, and now is releasing Emotion Pending at Belfast’s Union Bar on Friday.

She started getting interested in music as a 14-year-old when playing her brother’s guitar when he was not at home.

Since then the singer-songwriters has put in years of hard work to get where she is today.

She said: “This [the EP] has been in the works for about four years, so it really feels like this is a whole section of my life that I have been working on.

“To play all [the songs] live, I’m really excited, but nervous.”

Lucy has already had UK-wide exposure thanks to Gemma Bradley’s Radio One show.

“I was just on my way home from work and I was told I was going to be played on Radio One, that my wee song was going to be played on Radio One,” she said.

“I sent Gemma Bradley a message afterwards and said that she was single-handedly keeping my career afloat.

“I remember being at home and listening to Radio One when I was doing homework.

“To be one of those songs that was on the station that you listened to, you can’t compute it.”

Her favourite track from the EP is Quiet, which she described as the most personal song she has ever written.

“I used to be cautious about writing songs about things that have happened to me and things that I have developed,” said Lucy, who has performed at Botanic Gardens, the Dalriada Festival and Belfast Pride.

“I thought that nobody would care what I have gone through, so why would I put a song out about something that has happened to me?

“It seems to have been the one that has resonated with the most people so far.

“Because of that personal touch, people seem to have resonated more with it.”

The singer, who has supported Cara Dillon and Una Healy from the Saturdays, said her approach to songwriting differed from track to track.

She also told how she used quotes and snippets from conversations to come up with lyrics.

“If I’m in a conversation with someone or in any sort of setting and they say something and I like what they said, I have this really long note in my phone,” Lucy explained.

“It’s just full of things people have said — little phrases and sentences.

“In most of my songs there is something in there that someone else has said.”

Lucy has already won awards for her work and had her first taste of success in the US when she was still at school.

She was named the Panarts Belfast Nashville Songwriter of the Year in 2018.

As part of the award, she visited Tennessee, the home of country music, for meetings and performances, including at the famous Bluebird Cafe.

“I was in the middle of my A-Levels and had to tell my teachers that I was going to America for a week,” she said.

“I went to America and got to write with Grammy-winning singer-songwriters who have written for the likes of Garth Brooks and Ashley Campbell.”

For more information about Friday’s concert and EP launch, follow Lucy on Twitter at @LucyBellMusic