In 2017 I attended an indie music festival at Gävle in Central Sweden. I was watching one of the bands there when the organiser rushed up breathlessly and told me I just had to see the young girl performing at that moment in another building, insisting “you’ve never heard anything like her.”
He was right. I hadn’t. Then, or since.
That 12-year and local girl was Ingrid Fröderberg and she sang Beyoncé’s ‘Listen’ (a difficult song) with the panache you’d only expect from someone with years of experience in the business. Everything about the performance was breathtaking and especially her precocious understanding of phrasing.
To put it simply, she killed it.
I’ve never forgotten that night and of the spectacle of many adults and other musicians literally with tears in their eyes.
I concluded immediately that (a) she needed to be kept in cotton wool because there are – fortunately few, but they exist – people in the music business who could easily lead a young girl down the wrong path. I think of Ren Harvieu for example, one of the female voices in the UK and how she was a ‘star’ far too soon for her own good.
But I also realised that if Ingrid wanted to be a singer (and people do change their minds and find other interests), if she stuck it out and kept practicing, embracing different styles, a professional career beckoned.
Now almost six years on, and having won numerous awards at singing shows across Europe, Ingrid is about to matriculate from school. It’s time to unravel some of that cotton wool and unleash her on an unsuspecting world!
Incidentally, she’s from the same stable that nurtured Zara Larsson, the remarkable Helges All-Stars singing school. And I honesty do believe Ingrid has the talent even to outshine Zara.
Ingrid is now seeking opportunities to sing, outside of Sweden, perhaps in a residency in a hotel, restaurant or bar, but she’s open to suggestions, after graduation in June.
Right now she mainly sings covers, but is also applying to singer-songwriter schools. She performs both to recorded music and to live bands.
She says, “I move freely between different genres and can meet most requests!”
If anyone out there can help Ingrid, and treat yourself to an experience, please contact me via the website, email or social media and I’ll pass the message on.
I think I’ve said enough; time for Ingrid to speak/sing for herself. Check out this rendition of Simon and Garfunkel’s The Sound of Silence’.
Enjoy!
