Busselton’s Maya Ixchell and The Broadbent Brothers are set to represent the seaside city at this weekend’s Nannup Music Festival.
Maya will compete in the Emerging Artist Award, the same contest taken out by The Broadbent Brothers in 2017.
This year, brothers Tom and Ned, are part of the festival line-up in their own right.
The Cornerstone Christian College students, who gig regularly at The Goose, Amelia Park Lodge and The Shed Markets, won the recent City of Busselton Battle of the Bands.
The situation is reversed for Maya, who was scouted while busking in the streets by festival organisers at 14 and has played the festival for the last two years.
After working on her songwriting and stage confidence, the 17-year-old has decided to enter the competition.
The Busselton Senior High School student loves sharing stories and conveying emotions through music.
Her first brush with music came in the form of Singstar, ‘screaming’ into the microphone during her primary school years.
When her Mum noticed her voice, and how much she enjoyed singing, she purchased her lessons at Rock ‘n’ Roll High in Bunbury.
Through the school, she honed her technique and ended up audition for The Voice.
She made it to the producer stage, and was in the top 20 auditions in WA.
In the last 12 months, Maya has worked on writing music and picked up the guitar.
Maya will sing her tracks What Happened to Us and Forever Ends Here in the Nannup contest.
Each year, ten entrants perform two original songs for audience voters and industry judges.
The winner of the Emerging Artist Award and Recognition Award receive a recording studio session.
Nannup Music Festival will run from March 2 to 5.
Tickets are available from nannupmusicfestival.org.