World's Coolest opportunity to shine on stage | Your online ...

By Stew Slater, Staff reporter

According to the organizer of London?s popular annual RibFest music and food extravaganza, when he hears 15 year-old Hillairy Beard sing, ?you swear that she must be a 50-year-old soul sister.? Sitting in the basement of her St. Marys home giving a preview performance of Love is a Battlefield to a Journal Argus reporter (and her Mom, Lorelei), however, it becomes immediately clear Beard can also channel ?80s pop singer Pat Benatar with startling ease.

?She has an incredibly powerful voice,? agrees Lorelei Beard.

This hasn?t always been something mom and dad (Chris Beard) have been aware of. ?The first time I heard her really sing, I remember thinking, ?wow, where did that come from? Is that really my daughter???

But over the past two years, as Hillairy progressed from taking up lessons at The World?s Coolest Music Store in St. Marys, to spending an increasing amount of time participating in an innovative rock band program offered by the London Music Conservatory, to being offered some choice performance slots by RibFest organizer Doug Hillier, it has become clear she really can sing. And play guitar. And play drums. And . . . well, you get the picture.

Last week, Hillairy?s image and name (minus her last name; she?s just ?Hillairy? in this case) went up on billboards in London, promoting Kids Expo 2012, an annual event organized by Hillier?s Family Shows Canada at London?s Victoria Park on June 15-17. Kids Expo is a weekend of entertainment geared towards children, or performed by young people.

Beard is this year?s feature performer. She?ll give a concert Saturday, June 16 at 3 p.m., first performing several songs solo, then joining her London Music Conservatory counterpart Donovan Maudsley for more songs as a duo.

In addition, throughout the weekend, Beard will act as on-stage host, introducing the various entertainers.

The story behind Beard?s invitation to headline Kids Expo stems from the fact she never goes anywhere without her guitar. ?Hillairy sings and plays all the time,? her mom explains. ?Even when we went to Cuba on a family vacation, she took her guitar with her and sang and played in the lobby of the hotel.?

Last summer, Chris Beard was volunteering at RibFest. So Hillairy had the chance to hang around backstage after one of the concerts. She started playing her guitar and singing, and Hillier immediately took notice.

First he asked her to perform at Kids Expo. Then he encouraged a fellow RibFest organizer to come see her at one of the London Music Conservatory band program?s regular showcase nights at Norma Jean?s, a London bar. As a member of two bands performing that night ? one called Weard Beard and the other called Gopher Killers ? she impressed the RibFest folks sufficiently that they offered one band an opening slot for this August?s RibFest.

?This is all really new for us,? Lorelei admits, as she lists off the opportunities that have opened up for her daughter ? last year?s winner of the inaugural Grade 8 Music Award at the new Elementary campus of St. Marys DCVI ? since she first took up music lessons just over two years ago.

As a kid, Hillairy took part in the Acting Out summer camp in Stratford, which provided opportunities for all types of performance arts pursuits. But when she wanted to sign up for the teenage version of Acting Out, there was a requirement to audition. She remembers singing ?I Had a Dream? from Momma Mia. And she also remembers realizing at the time that maybe singing in the shower just wasn?t going to be enough to satisfy her creative needs.

So she signed up for World?s Coolest Music Store lessons. First it was voice. Then ?I found my dad?s old guitar . . . and I picked it up and tried to teach myself. And that didn?t go too well.? So she added guitar lessons to her schedule. Then came drums.

Eventually, she was hired by the store to teach other aspiring musicians. And she decided she needed to broaden her own horizons beyond what could be provided in St. Marys, so she enrolled in the London Music Conservatory program.

There, she interacts with a wide mix of aspiring rockers, ranging from pre-teen guitar players to drummers attending the University of Western Ontario. All are on equal footing in the program; they perform and write songs with each other on an interchangeable basis.

?Hillairy has definitely found her passion,? Lorelei says proudly of her musical daughter.

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