Elsie Ford sings the house down during an inspiring Dangar Park performance

The 3000-strong crowd at last Friday’s NSW Waratahs v Queensland Reds rugby union match was treated to an extraordinary lineup of pre-match entertainment which included headline act Thirsty Merc, Sydney quintet Georgia June and Narrabri’s very own singer/songwriter Elsie Ford.

17-year-old Elsie, who is the daughter of Bob and Trudi Ford, opened the evening’s entertainment at Dangar Park with her most significant performance to date.

The Narrabri High School Year 12 student drew loud cheers as she walked on stage with her guitar before she sung the house down during a 20-minute set. She kicked it off with well-known Van Morrison hit Brown Eyed Girl and then followed with U2’s One, Bruce Springsteen’s No Surrender, her own song Is This What Love’s Meant To Feel Like, and The Beatles’ Eight Days A Week.

Elsie told The Courier that she was initially nervous, but quickly found her groove on stage.

“It was very scary up there, when I was walking on I was very nervous, but there wasn’t quite as many people in the crowd as I thought there might be so that sort of settled my nerves,” she said.

“It was really amazing, I felt really small because it was just me on stage but it was really cool to get up there and I really got into it.

“The atmosphere was just great.

“The biggest crowd I’d performed at before Friday was MAAD Night for school, but this crowd was bigger.

“It was very special to have a lot of my friends there and a lot of people that know mum and dad were there too.

“Of the five songs, four I’ve done before for performances at school, then my own song, well I thought I should do one of my own.

“They are all songs that I enjoy playing.”

The Narrabri singer/songwriter said that opening for Georgia June and Thirsty Merc was a memory she would cherish forever.

Music-wise, Elsie now turns her attention to her HSC Music which she will complete this year.

She said that in the near future she would focus on writing more of her own songs and securing gigs at local pubs.

“Really I just want to keep enjoying it and it’d be really cool if I could keep performing my own songs in front of crowds,” she added.