Barnsley singer-songwriter launches her music career during lockdown

Musician Harriet Rose, who took the plunge to turn professional during the first lockdown

Harriet Rose, who lives in Barnsley, quit her job to develop her music career at the beginning of March – just weeks before the real impact of coronavirus started to hit home.

The Americana-style singer-songwriter had to rethink her plans as she couldn’t get out and play live, so she started performing online via Facebook Live instead.

Harriet, aged 22, said: “Not being able to do gigs was upsetting but I’ve met people I would never have met.”

It was a nerve-wracking start, though: “I’d never done it before and the first one I did I was worse than normal gigs. I was terrified and shaking. You don’t know if people are watching and saying you are terrible.”

She built up a following using social media and started to connect with US audiences. Their votes won her the Women Of Country Artist of the Year title and she also got three nominations in the UK Country Music Spotlight Awards and other accolades.

That represented a lot of hard work. “At one point last year I must have done close to 100 streams. I was doing six to seven a week at least. It’s quietened down a bit because people have found other things to do.”

Harriet is concentrating on the release of her new single, Love Me Like That, which is out on Spotify, iTunes and Amazon from February 5.

The artwork for Harriet Rose's new single, Love Me Like That

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It’s a long way from her first shows playing in punk band Razor Tones at the age of 13, before being inspired by artists like Taylor Swift to move in another direction.

She studied journalism at Hallam University but music was the passion she wanted to pursue. “When I was at uni, I had two part-time jobs and did music on top.

"Last year I came out of uni and went into a job but I wasn’t particularly happy and I had an opportunity to do something in the States and things just seemed to be falling into place and I thought let’s just give it a go. Then Covid!”

Now her career is going from strength to strength and she’s doing it all herself. “It’s bizarre and wonderful,” said Harriet.

She is hoping to perform a socially-distanced gig at Record Junkee off The Moor, Sheffield on May 1. Details at www.harrietrosemusic.com