"I’ve seen Megan Longhurst and Melanie Dyer audition for (The Voice), and I’m thinking, ‘Geez, if they can do it, they’re from a small country town, then I can do it’.” 

Breanna Krauss, a newly minted year 12 student, will be singing at the Ashford Christmas Twilight Markets on Sunday, December 7.

With a clear, sweet and grounded delivery and eclectic musical influences, it was actually a contemporary artist that motivated music-minded Breanna to take her voice to the stage.

“I really liked Taylor Swift. She really inspired me. I could relate to a lot of the stuff she was singing about and she’d write about,” she said.

“And it got me started to write my own songs.”

Breanna auditioned for Inverell’s Got Talent in 2009, but was told she might be a bit too young. She returned in 2012 and won the lot. 

Since then, she has taken her voice further down the road to the Tamworth Country Music Festival.

She performed in 2013 and 2014 at the CCMA Battle of the Youngsters and Aboriginal Showcase with plenty of gigging in between with local musicians. 

This year, the festival offered her another opportunity when she performed some covers, including Kasey Chambers on the Toyota Park big stage.

In 2015, Breanna will return to the Tamworth Festival stages, and has been booked as the feature artist at the opening concert for the Aboriginal Showcase.

The connection to her passion for singing and her emotions is inextricable for the young performer. 

“I found that it is a lot better to sing when you’re feeling really emotional or angry about something, ‘cause you just put all your effort into singing, and it just comes out.”