BBC News, West Midlands
When she was a teenager, Lissy Taylor was performing Amy Winehouse covers at a pub’s open-mic night and being paid with chips.
About 10 years later, the singer-songwriter from Stoke-on-Trent was signed up by Universal Music Group and said she was the first woman from the city to do so.
The contract came after the 25-year-old had performed gigs alongside some of her music heroes, including Noel Gallagher, the Lottery Winners and Miles Kane.
“It’s a whole new chapter, and I’ve got to work really, really hard to make it work,” she said. “It’s really exciting, and I’m glad it’s got to this point.”
Music was always on in Ms Taylor’s family home in Trentham, and she took a shine to nineties Britpop and indie rock bands like Oasis.
Her uncle also had countless pictures and photos of artists he would go to see in concert.
“I used to look at them and think how amazing it was that people could do that, not really thinking I’d end up doing something similar,” she added.
Despite her love of singing around the house, Ms Taylor said she was a shy child who only came out of her shell when she was aged 13 and started playing guitar – building her confidence through music.
She said: “Music ended up bringing me out of my shell… It changed my life, really.”
From then on, she had pretty much decided it was what she wanted to do and began taking part in open-mic nights in local pubs.
Her mother would go with her, and one of the venues gave her chips after each performance.
“It was a real learning curve and a massive moment for me discovering this was what I wanted to do forever,” Ms Taylor said.
“When I started playing in front of people, I got a real buzz from it.”
She worked as a teacher at Newcastle College alongside her music, but in 2024, she decided to throw everything into her music.
Ms Taylor wrote music and performed “non-stop” between April and September, which included supporting Noel Gallagher at Y Not Festival, which she described as a “pinch-me moment”.
“I find it really inspiring to be able to support artists I’ve always looked up to that are doing what I dream of doing now,” she said.
It was during this period when she was approached by Universal, and she announced the news of her signing at a concert at the Bet365 stadium, proudly wearing a Stoke City FC shirt.
She has recently released her first single with Universal, called Jealous, and said she has been bowled over by the response and how everything has come together.
“It’s been a very long journey,” she added. “It’s a lot to look back and consider how shy I was as a child to now. It just shows the power of music and how much it can bring you to life.”
Ms Taylor said the years have had “ups and downs” for her but urged other up-and-coming music talent to never give up.
“Where there’s a will, there’s a way. If you want it bad enough, you’ll find a way,” she said.
