It’s young talent time as guitar wunderkind Lil G brings the blues to Canberra
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Guess who’s coming to town on Friday 24 November?
Lil G, the 12-year-old guitarist with more than 120,000 social media fans and followers is set to light up the Harmonie German Club’s main stage in a night to remember on Tuesday 24 November.
Fresh from supporting Nathan Cavaleri, she’s set to perform as part of a stellar line-up in the Youth in Blues Talent Spectacular, along with 19-Twenty protégés Negative Space and talented teens Bryn and Charlie Child from Manchild and the Blues Kids.
We sat down with Lil G for a chat about all things guitar, her love of the blues, and how excited she is to be performing in Canberra to a huge audience of guitar players and blues lovers.
What made you choose the guitar as an instrument?
I chose guitar because my dad had two rules for us. One: we had to do nippers and surf club to learn ocean safety and two: learn something creative. The guitar looked cool and I chose that but my hands were tiny then so there were challenges.
How has music made a difference to your life?
Music has been part of my life since birth, no one in my family is a musician but music is always on.
Creating music has changed my life for the better in so many ways – confidence, my ability to focus, and making wonderful lifelong friends all over the world, as well as practical things like my playing and dedication winning me a scholarship to a special high school so that my education could be the best it could be – and music just fills my soul with joy.
What other female performers are you inspired by?
I’ve been inspired by so many but personally, ladies like Minne Marks and Julz and Leesa from Hussy Hicks have been wonderfully generous and inspiring to me.
They’ve invited me onto their big stages to play with them live – and that has been so amazing! It’s my honour to now have them as friends.
What do you like about the Blues as a genre?
The Blues is just so expressive and gives me a feeling of freedom and expression to play how I feel and what the music is saying to me in the moment.
Plus, it’s just where it’s at – it’s the cat’s pyjamas as far as I’m concerned – it’s what the masters played. Why wouldn’t I want in on that fun?!
What are your goals and aspirations as a musician?
My main goal is simple – to have a happy life filled with amazing experiences.
I dream of travelling the world, meeting and playing with the world’s best musicians, I have wonderful mentors that teach me the harder I work now the better my chances of making my dreams come true – but I don’t consider it work.
I know to my core that’s what I want my life to be. So far, it’s been magical, and I can only imagine what life has in store for my journey…
What advice would you give other girls with talent trying to make it on the music scene?
My advice is always simple. Do it because you want to, don’t let them tell you ‘Oh because you’re a girl’ or anything…
Work hard, study the greats – not what you like – but THE greats. If you want to be great, my simple motto is ‘practice practice practice’. If you have spare time, practice. If you can, practice. Learn to love practice – that’s it, do that.
Oh, and get quality instruction – not from YouTube but from a real person… education is key before practice.
Last words?
Keep picking and supporting local music. And always create your own future.
Lil G is performing as part of the Youth in Blues Talent Spectacular at the Harmonie Germany Club on Friday 24 November.
Tickets are available at bit.ly/youthbluestalentspectacular and under 16’s get in for free!
Feature image: Supplied.
