Stars in waiting: Wolverhampton's Louise Petit
Chrissy Symmons catches up with the region's best unsigned acts and meets the stars of tomorrow. This week Wolverhampton based singer-songwriter Louise Petit.
Christmas is coming and Louise Petit has written a song for the special occasion.
The singer/ songwriter and her two band members describe their music as folk, country and pop and have composed Christmas Time with You for fans to listen to during the festive season.
Louise, who works in Wolverhampton, says she has written songs "for as long as I can remember" but was never a fan of performing in her early days.
She felt song writing was more of a therapy than something to share.
"Because I use song writing as a kind of diary for real thoughts and feelings, I think I just wanted it to remain private," she said.
But two years ago she began playing at open mic nights as a solo artist. It was here she started to meet "like-minded" musicians and her solo act grew into a band.
Today she plays alongside Kevin Reginald Cooke and Tim Heymerdinger under the band name Louise Petit.
"We have been gigging together for a year," she said.
"I guess the music is acoustic, a little bit folk, a little bit Americana and probably a dash of pop too.
"I'd say it is pretty honest music, easy to enjoy and we do love a vocal harmony.
I hope people will remember how our music makes them feel when they hear it because the lyrics are honest and people tend to relate to the messages being shared."
She said the band likes to use music and song writing to take people on a journey. Whether it is a recording or a live performance they are able to tell a story to those listening.
Louise said the group members have a few different artists who influence their sound and song writing. These include Billy Joel, Simon and Garfunkel and the Carpenters.
"I also love more modern storytellers like Belle and Sebastian and Regina Spektor," she said.
"I think their ability to captivate an audience with the stories they are telling is amazing."
The group is currently spending its time looking for new venues to play its gigs in. It also wants to get back in a studio to record music.
Louise said: "We've managed to play some great venues and had time to record and write new material so we're really looking forward to next year and keeping up the momentum."
Other plans for the future include making an album.
To Listen to Louise Petit's music visit www.louisepetit.bandcamp.com or www.youtube.com/user/louisepetit/videos
