Junior Hollyn Shadinger made her debut as a singer in her sixth grade talent show. Five years later, she has a song on iTunes, performs gigs locally, and played the role of Alice in the fall musical  “The Addams Family.”

Shadinger is currently taking AP Music Theory and is a member of the Chanticleer chorus and An Octave Above jazz choir. “I could tell Hollyn had natural ability when she started playing piano in first grade. She could play songs by ear,” Hollyn’s mother, Mary Beth Shadinger, said.

Hollyn waited a few years until her first live performance. “My first performance was at the Rising Starr talent show in 6th grade, and things took off from there,” Shadinger said. Ever since then, she has fallen in love with singing and performing in front of a live audience. Shadinger writes her own songs and even has a song on iTunes that her guitar teacher, Jeff Shepherd, composed for her.

“My guitar teacher wrote a song and he wanted me to sing it, so I recorded the song last January. After that, we sent the song in to get copyrighted. After it was copyrighted, we contacted iTunes and sent in the song,” Shadinger said. “They determined the price and within a couple of days, the song was on iTunes. The whole process was very time consuming and took a lot of dedication.”

The song is called “Maybe Love Will Last” and was advertised by Shadinger and her friends via social media such as Instagram and Twitter. The song is doing well and Shadinger admits to having the song on her own iPod and listening to it from time to time.

Shadinger refuses to take credit for the song’s success despite her involvement. “I gave my guitar teacher all the money from the song because he deserved it. He worked really hard to perfect the song.”

Shadinger now writes all of her own songs and recorded some of them during the Thanksgiving  break. She has many more songs “in progress” that she works on every day after school. “When she gets a song in her head, she is in her music room until she’s done,” her mom said.

Hollyn is the only singer in her family, and they give her all their support.  Her parents have put her through voice, piano, and guitar lessons.  Shadinger family members never miss a performance either. Whether it is a 6th grade talent show or open mic night at Southern Gardens or Eddies Attic, her family is always there.

Shadinger also performed in “The Addams Family” musical earlier this fall. “I wasn’t auditioning for any specific part,” Shadinger said.  “I just wanted to be in the play. But being Alice was so much fun. The audition process was nerve-wracking having to perform a monologue and sing two songs,” Shadinger said. “If the casters like you, you get a call back and are assigned a role in the production.”

Shadinger said that she has not been acting for very long and has never taken an acting class, making “The Addams Family” her first play. “I loved every minute of it,” she said.

Preparing for her role took a lot of time and practice. “To prepare for the role of Alice, I practiced my lines every day at rehearsals and at home during my free time. I also worked on the song during my voice lessons,” Shadinger said. She plans to audition for any upcoming Drama Department plays and  to take acting lessons in order to improve her acting skills just as she has in her singing career.

Time management is a huge aspect in Shadinger’s life. With such a busy schedule, she has to make sure that she stays on task and focused at all times. “To balance everything, I do my homework right when I get home and I spend the rest of my time writing songs. I use my voice, piano, and guitar lessons to help me perfect my songs,” Shadinger said.

Shadinger also plans to participate in the 14th annual Miss Starr’s Mill Pageant, which is Jan 8-10 in the Willie Duke Auditorium. For her talent portion, she said she plans to sing and possibly play the piano as well.

“In order to prepare for it, I will work on my song every day , and I will practice for my interview by having my parents ask me questions so I can get used to being able to talk in front of the judges,” Shadinger says. “I love when people get to hear me sing. The performing part is so much fun, but sometimes practicing and perfecting my techniques can be really frustrating. But it is all worth it in the end.”