A teenage singing sensation who supported Katy Perry and Dolly Parton is still working 9 to 5 – on the meat and cheese counter at her local WAITROSE.
Abby Inez started singing at school concerts and has been writing her own music since she learnt to play the guitar aged just 15.
The talented 19-year-old released her first EP earlier this year – with one single reaching number seven in the iTunes Singer Songwriter Chart.
She also performed for thousands of screaming fans on the Forum Live stage at the LG Arena in Birmingham before Katy Perry’s sell-out concert on May 14.
And a month later she returned to play on the same stage before her idol Dolly Parton’s gig in the city.
Singer-songwriter Abby started off playing in pubs and restaurants but now travels around the country appearing at different festivals.
But when she is not writing songs, the teenager supports her up-and-coming music career by working part-time on the deli counter in her local Waitrose.
Abby, who works 11-hours-a-week, said she is often caught singing by customers as she serves them meat and cheese.
She added: “I still live at home but I need money to fund my music.
“I have worked there for about a year as a food specialist so I work on the deli counter serving the meats and cheese.
“People come up to me and say they have seen me doing a gig or heard my music
which is nice.
“I also hum to myself or sing under my breath when I am wrapping cheese which the customers seem to like.
“Some colleagues ask me to sing but I always tell them to go on YouTube. They are all so supportive of what I am doing.
“My dream is just to sing to huge crowds and have my music out there. I want people to listen to my music.
“I had conversations with my mum because she was looking out for me and wanted me to go to university but as soon as I left college I said I want to take a year out and try my music.
“Everything has been going well since so I am keeping going and hopefully I will get picked up by a record label one day.”
Abby released her first EP called ‘Say What You Think’ in April this year with fans able to buy it on iTunes and through her website.
The three-track album sold almost 500 copies in the first weekend with one song, ‘Get On’, making it to number seven in the iTunes Singer Songwriter Chart – just one place below British megastar Ed Sheeran.
The popular hit also has its own official music video which shows Abby leaving her home in the UK and travelling to Nashville, the spiritual home of country music.
She is now working on her second EP – which will be made up of four new songs and released later this year.
Single Abby travelled to Nashville in Tennessee in March year and even managed to sing on the world-famous Bluebird Cafe stage – where US popstar Taylor Swift was discovered.
The teenager, who lives with her mum Shirley Davies, 50, and brother Austin, 21, in Droitwich Spa, Worcs., added: “It was my dream to go to Nashville.
“As soon as I got off the plane I got a taxi and said ‘take me to the Bluebird Cafe’.
“They have an open mic night on Mondays and there were about 200 people there but my name got picked out of the hat and I got to sing one song on the stage.
“I had to pinch myself because it all happened so fast. It was on the list of one of the things to do in my life.
“Earlier this year somebody asked me to go on the Forum Live stage before Katy Perry in Birmingham.
“I had about 40 minutes and there were thousands of people watching me.
“They asked me back for Dolly Parton which was amazing because she is one of my idols with Taylor Swift and Elvis Presley.
“It was daunting but it was so great, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. The nervousness goes away when you realised what you are doing.
“I have done a lot of local festivals too but I don’t have a manager. I do everything for myself by talking to a lot of people and making CDs.”
