Keep your ears to the ground! Year 12 student Charlotte Woods will soon be releasing her debut single, Rushing Back. 

Charlotte has been busy working on her music over the last two years at Don College. This year the UTAS Music Foundation Practical Study has helped develop her music performance and theory as well as expose her to the world of producing music. 

While Charlotte developed a keen passion for music towards the end of primary school that flowed into her high school years, it was when she started at Don that things really started to come together for her. 

"I've been working on three things with my music this year; my songwriting and producing, my gigs and live performances, and music here at school for Year 12." 

Charlotte recently completed her performance for the UTAS pathway course and has received an early round offer into the UTAS Bachelor of Music course. She will move to Hobart in 2023 to start the course which focuses on both music production for television and film, and also has the possibility to develop her artistry as a solo performer.  

"I'm really excited to see where I can go with it. I just want to take every opportunity I get with music." 

Charlotte has built a list of local venues where she has been playing gigs this year, and she is set to support Claire Anne Taylor Band early next year. She said that playing at live gigs allows her to test out her own compositions. 

"It's a good way to gauge whether the audience likes a new song." 

This is how Charlotte came to think there might be potential in the single she is currently recording.

"I played it at Rock Challenge and at a few live gigs, and people really liked it. I even had a guy from Sea FM tell me I should produce it."

While it seems that Charlotte has a natural ability for performing and songwriting, it has come through hard work. Charlotte spends time going over and over her songs, editing the lyrics, and figuring out which composition fits best with her creations. 

"Sometimes the lyrics will come first and then it's finding a cord progression that works with that, but sometimes I just find a riff that works well and then I need to write lyrics for that. I just keep going until it sounds good." 

Charlotte, like many others, is currently working her way through exams but as soon as they finish she will be pulling together a professional recording of her song. 

"I've recorded a demo, but now I just need to record all the parts and bring it together." 

We are excited to see what the future has in store for Charlotte, and we look forward to hearing her original music as she releases it. Well done! 

You can follow Charlotte on Facebook for gigs and for the release of her single:  https://www.facebook.com/charlottewoodsmusic