By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
In her own words, the last year for Lake Geneva’s Genevieve Heyward has been “crazy.”
A fixture performing at open mic night at the Coffee House at Chestnut and Pine, Heyward graduated to winning the Chocolate City Idol title in her age group both last year – and again this spring.
What the future holds for Heyward in terms of a music career may be cloudy, but she certainly has made a start. She recently recorded a demo CD, and performed at both the Tall Tales Music Festival preview and at the festival itself last weekend.
“It’s an honor,” said Heyward, who just turned 15 in April, about getting to perform at the festival. “It’s like an absolute honor.”
Heyward got a chance to put herself among not only the locally known acts at the festival, but also among the national acts in the lineup established by festival manager Patrick Sullivan.
AG, Garrison Starr and Maia Sharp performed on Friday night at the festival, while Cory Chisel’s Soul Obscura headlined the festival Saturday night.
“Well-known people from different places,” said Heyward. “It makes me feel pretty good about my talent. I’m excited to talk to them and really get influenced by them.”
Heyward performed some of her own songs at both the preview and the main festival. As she explained to the preview crowd, she’s becoming more confident in expressing her inner voice in her music.
But as much as Heyward is making a name for herself as a musician, she’s also just 15. She’s recently been named to the Badger High School jazz ensemble, and has played both her own music and popular pieces at various appearances this summer.
As she put it, “things just got better and better.”
“What do I want out of my music?” said Heyward. “I would like my name sort of well known. I want to continue my music my entire life. But it can be a hard career.
“I just really hope to continue on with it.”
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