A Drumheller girl, who has demonstrated talent beyond her years, is stepping into the spotlight with her first single.
Abigail (Abby) Fooks, daughter of Ben and Candice has recorded her first single and this week it is expected to be available on iTunes.
While only 15, she has been involved with music for a number of years and is being noticed. Most recently, she was the winner of the Drumheller’s Got Talent contest.
Play Abby's new single Breakaway
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She also comes from a musical family and some of those connections helped record a professional debut.
Her father Ben has some connections in the Canadian music world and was able to arrange a recording session in Vancouver.
“After Abby won the Drumheller’s Got Talent contest, I was really surprised how much of a buzz was created. I had people constantly asking about it after the fact, so I figured maybe now would be a good time to come out with some of her own material,” said Ben.
He connected with former Drumheller resident Mike James and Jeff Dawson, the same producers of his band Downtyme’s work. Their resumes also includes working with Kelly Rowland, Kreesha Turner and the band Hedley.
They were interested in working with Abby and collaborated on a song. They sent the demo to Abby to practice. Abby flew out and recorded Breakaway.
“When I first heard it wasn’t as upbeat, I thought it was a really pretty song. As we recorded, it became faster and more upbeat, I thought it was really cool to see the transformation of that,” she said.
Abby said it was an exciting experience.
“It was kind of intimidating at first, but I did get comfortable, it was fun,” she said.
Her dedication to the song seemed to sit well with the crew. She said she was well practiced on the song before they went in and because of that they were able to be more creative musically.
The partnership may continue further. She says the people she worked with have the industry contacts to release the song nationally. Ben says they are considering this and also working on getting a website and other details in order.
As part of the Drumheller Talent Contest, she won local recording time. Abby has also been working on writing her own songs and Ben says imagines she will be recording her material in the near future.
