ONE CHRISTMAS an 11-year-old Wicklow girl sat looking up into the night sky searching for the star of Bethlehem. Unable to find it, she decided to write a song about her quest. Her song 'I look up to the Sky' would go on to raise thousands of pounds for Charity and be performed by the young singer/songwriter on RTE's Late Late Toy Show ' 94 in front of the nation. ' I was thrilled to be on the Toy Show with Gay Byrne but terrified during my performance because they put me on a really high stool and I kept thinking I'm going to fall off any minute.' Luan says laughing.

Since those memorable moments 15 years ago the lovely Luan Parle has become a wellknown singing star here in Ireland with many hit singles under her belt and her third album coming out next month.

The unique, husky voiced, rock/pop/folk and sometimes country-style singer who describes her songs as ' Rootsy Organic', received the prestigious Meter Award for 'Best Irish Female Artist' by public vote in 2007 and the same year won the Tatler, 'Music Woman of the Year' Award. Tipped for international stardom, this pretty blonde singer now works here and in the States with some of the best producers in the world and has toured with her band in the UK supporting James Blunt and Elton John.

Born in 1983, Luan Parle grew up in Wicklow Town, the only daughter of Miriam and Jo Parle. The story of her distinctive name, is that she had a French ancestor named 'Parle' who is said to have been shipwrecked off the Wexford coast and helped and nursed back to health by a beautiful Irish woman. He fell in love, married his Irish nurse and never returned to France.

'It's a very romantic story and apparently true,' She says with a smile. ' The name Luan is also French. Sadly, my mum lost her mother Margaret Cullen six months before I was born. They used to call her 'Lu' and my mum wanted to call me after her so when she came across the French name Luan it seemed to fit the bill.'

Her father Jo, a local plumbing and heating contractor, instilled a love of music and playing instruments in Luan and his two sons Joseph and John and their cousin Vincent who lived with them. Luan tells us about him and his influence on her

'My dad is a fantastic singer and songwriter but it has always been a hobby for him. We grew up listening to him singing and play different instruments.

'He gave guitar lessons and trained the local kids in the choir and I couldn't wait to start singing and would beg him to give me a song to sing. When I was about six years old, he let me sing at Sunday Mass in St. Patrick's Church and later he taught me to play the guitar. Like him, I could pick up any instrument and play by ear. My dad is the one who introduced me to a lot of different styles of music and genres so his influence on me as a performer is massive.'

Growing up in a household of boys, Luan describes her childhood as very happy, active and full of fun and admits to being a bit of a tomboy.

'Looking back at old photos brings back wonderful memories of fancy dress parties that mum would arrange and picnics on the beach. We spent the summers down on the small stony beach beside the harbour swimming out to a raft we called ' Wendy' and jumping, climbing and tearing around on skateboards. I was as bad as the boys and must have broken every bone in my body at some stage or other,' she jokes.

Luan became known locally as ' the little girl who sings' and took part and won a large number of talent contests and cabaret shows around the county.

She tells us that in the ' 80s there were a lots of talent competitions taking place in local communities in the county and although her father happily drove her around and her family supported her at these events, she was the one who instigated entering these shows in the first place.

'I was very driven as a child to perform. It was always my idea to enter competitions and talent contests. I would point out posters and entry forms in newspapers to my parents. I just loved performing. It was never about winning, only about performing. I wasn't a cocky kid or at all competitive. I would see people practising and tuning up their vocal cords before contests and I'd be there, happily eating peanuts and drinking cola.'

Luan won her first trophy and a small cash prize in Newtownmountkennedy but soon the prizes and the prize money improved and in Arklow, aged 10, she won a week's family holiday to Butlins Holiday Camp in Mosney where her mother had worked as a nurse before she was married.

'Mum always said she wanted to bring us back there so the whole family was delighted with the win and while we were there I entered another talent contest and won 300 pounds. I was thrilled as that was an amazing amount of money to me at that time.'

At the age of 12 she proved she had a ' talent for her talent' by showing great initiative in writing to the late Gerry Ryan and asking to go on his 'School around the Corner' Show. While on the show she was seen by Pat Kenny and invited onto his show, 'Kenny Live' and from there she was spotted by a scout for a record label in Ireland and wound up recording an album of cover songs called ' First Impression.'

' The songs were all suitable for my age and looking back on it now, it was amazing to have a record deal and an album out at such a young age. I'm really proud of it. The album went over to represent Ireland in the Cannes Film Festival that year in 1995 and was heard by a U. S. scout representing an American record label.' What transpired would be, for most singers, a once in a lifetime opportunity - to become a big recording artist in the United States - but it was not the right time for Luan Parle.

She was invited, along with her family, to live in Nashville, the home of country music and was offered a full recording contract but her parents had other ideas. They felt their daughter at 12 years of age was too young and that her education should come first.

'It would have been a massive thing for my parents to uproot the whole family in Wicklow and go to the States. I was so young, it may not have worked out. I feel they made the right decision at the time. It could have gone either way and I could have been washed up very young.'

Luan recalls the disappointment she felt at having to tell her school friends that she wasn't going to America and the lure and temptation put in front of an impressionable child.

'I remember how excited I felt having lunch in Killiney Castle with these men and my Dad, all talking about my future. Then one of the men asked me what clothes I liked. At the time, I really wanted a pair of Wrangler jeans and he told me that in the States I could have all the Wrangler clothes I wanted. I was impressed but at that age, the thing that upset me most was having to tell my friends that we weren't going to America after all. Looking back, I would have been moulded into a Nashville sounding artist and that wouldn't have worked for me. I like to be in control of my life and my own music style.'

For the next few years, Luan focused on school, her music and having fun with her own age group and experiencing an organic, natural growth musically rather than, perhaps the forced, artificial life she would be living in the US. In her late teens Luan, along with her three brothers and a girlfriend Elaine Porter, put together a band called 'Heaven's Last' and began performing at the weekends in the local pubs.

'We had been listening to my dad's old vinyls for years to bands like Fleetwood Mac and the Rolling Stones and singer/songwriters like Bob Dylan, so these were some of our influences. We had a great time gigging and had a regular slot every Saturday night in Mulvihill's Pub in the town.'

Then at 20, Luan was signed by Sony records and spent a year in America working with top record producer Bill Bottrell, who produced for Michael Jackson for seven years.

When she returned she wrote and recorded her second album 'Free' in 2007. The album was a great success, went gold and the very popular single 'Ghost' from the album was in the top ten charts for weeks.

Her latest album, ' The Full Circle' comes out on September 17. She says of it, ' This is the album I've always wanted to do. I co-wrote two of the songs on it and wrote all the rest. I also co-produced it. It incorporates all my many musical influences and is probably more rocky and a lot less country. I'm trying to move away from the country singer image and I hope I've achieved that with this album.'

Luan feels complimented to be likened to singing heavyweights, like Sheryl Crow and Stevie Nicks of whom she is a big fan and loves their music. She feels she has been fortunate in her career, in the type of people she has met and worked with and in the fact that she never had to do something like the 'X Factor'.

'I've been in this business a long time now and know a lot of people. I'm very lucky to have great people around me like my friend and producer Chris Kimsey and a really great team. I would hate to have been involved in something like the 'X Factor' where you have no real say or any real control. The pressure too that those contestants are under is massive. I would never want to go through that and I don't have to, I know I've been very lucky.'

We will be seeing and hearing a lot more of Luan Parle in the coming weeks on our TV screens, on radio interviews, and in newspapers and magazines, as this talented singer/songwriter goes about the country promoting her new album. It seems only a matter of time, when we will see her break into the UK and the US markets as she continues to follows her star.

Luan Parle's single 'Why Baby Why' from her new album is out now and is available to download on ITunes. ONE CHRISTMAS an 11-year-old Wicklow girl sat looking up into the night sky searching for the star of Bethlehem. Unable to find it, she decided to write a song about her quest. Her song 'I look up to the Sky' would go on to raise thousands of pounds for Charity and be performed by the young singer/songwriter on RTE's Late Late Toy Show ' 94 in front of the nation. ' I was thrilled to be on the Toy Show with Gay Byrne but terrified during my performance because they put me on a really high stool and I kept thinking I'm going to fall off any minute.' Luan says laughing.

Since those memorable moments 15 years ago the lovely Luan Parle has become a wellknown singing star here in Ireland with many hit singles under her belt and her third album coming out next month.

The unique, husky voiced, rock/pop/folk and sometimes country-style singer who describes her songs as ' Rootsy Organic', received the prestigious Meter Award for 'Best Irish Female Artist' by public vote in 2007 and the same year won the Tatler, 'Music Woman of the Year' Award. Tipped for international stardom, this pretty blonde singer now works here and in the States with some of the best producers in the world and has toured with her band in the UK supporting James Blunt and Elton John.

Born in 1983, Luan Parle grew up in Wicklow Town, the only daughter of Miriam and Jo Parle. The story of her distinctive name, is that she had a French ancestor named 'Parle' who is said to have been shipwrecked off the Wexford coast and helped and nursed back to health by a beautiful Irish woman. He fell in love, married his Irish nurse and never returned to France.

'It's a very romantic story and apparently true,' She says with a smile. ' The name Luan is also French. Sadly, my mum lost her mother Margaret Cullen six months before I was born. They used to call her 'Lu' and my mum wanted to call me after her so when she came across the French name Luan it seemed to fit the bill.'

Her father Jo, a local plumbing and heating contractor, instilled a love of music and playing instruments in Luan and his two sons Joseph and John and their cousin Vincent who lived with them. Luan tells us about him and his influence on her

'My dad is a fantastic singer and songwriter but it has always been a hobby for him. We grew up listening to him singing and play different instruments.

'He gave guitar lessons and trained the local kids in the choir and I couldn't wait to start singing and would beg him to give me a song to sing. When I was about six years old, he let me sing at Sunday Mass in St. Patrick's Church and later he taught me to play the guitar. Like him, I could pick up any instrument and play by ear. My dad is the one who introduced me to a lot of different styles of music and genres so his influence on me as a performer is massive.'

Growing up in a household of boys, Luan describes her childhood as very happy, active and full of fun and admits to being a bit of a tomboy.

'Looking back at old photos brings back wonderful memories of fancy dress parties that mum would arrange and picnics on the beach. We spent the summers down on the small stony beach beside the harbour swimming out to a raft we called ' Wendy' and jumping, climbing and tearing around on skateboards. I was as bad as the boys and must have broken every bone in my body at some stage or other,' she jokes.

Luan became known locally as ' the little girl who sings' and took part and won a large number of talent contests and cabaret shows around the county.

She tells us that in the ' 80s there were a lots of talent competitions taking place in local communities in the county and although her father happily drove her around and her family supported her at these events, she was the one who instigated entering these shows in the first place.

'I was very driven as a child to perform. It was always my idea to enter competitions and talent contests. I would point out posters and entry forms in newspapers to my parents. I just loved performing. It was never about winning, only about performing. I wasn't a cocky kid or at all competitive. I would see people practising and tuning up their vocal cords before contests and I'd be there, happily eating peanuts and drinking cola.'

Luan won her first trophy and a small cash prize in Newtownmountkennedy but soon the prizes and the prize money improved and in Arklow, aged 10, she won a week's family holiday to Butlins Holiday Camp in Mosney where her mother had worked as a nurse before she was married.

'Mum always said she wanted to bring us back there so the whole family was delighted with the win and while we were there I entered another talent contest and won 300 pounds. I was thrilled as that was an amazing amount of money to me at that time.'

At the age of 12 she proved she had a ' talent for her talent' by showing great initiative in writing to the late Gerry Ryan and asking to go on his 'School around the Corner' Show. While on the show she was seen by Pat Kenny and invited onto his show, 'Kenny Live' and from there she was spotted by a scout for a record label in Ireland and wound up recording an album of cover songs called ' First Impression.'

' The songs were all suitable for my age and looking back on it now, it was amazing to have a record deal and an album out at such a young age. I'm really proud of it. The album went over to represent Ireland in the Cannes Film Festival that year in 1995 and was heard by a U. S. scout representing an American record label.' What transpired would be, for most singers, a once in a lifetime opportunity - to become a big recording artist in the United States - but it was not the right time for Luan Parle.

She was invited, along with her family, to live in Nashville, the home of country music and was offered a full recording contract but her parents had other ideas. They felt their daughter at 12 years of age was too young and that her education should come first.

'It would have been a massive thing for my parents to uproot the whole family in Wicklow and go to the States. I was so young, it may not have worked out. I feel they made the right decision at the time. It could have gone either way and I could have been washed up very young.'

Luan recalls the disappointment she felt at having to tell her school friends that she wasn't going to America and the lure and temptation put in front of an impressionable child.

'I remember how excited I felt having lunch in Killiney Castle with these men and my Dad, all talking about my future. Then one of the men asked me what clothes I liked. At the time, I really wanted a pair of Wrangler jeans and he told me that in the States I could have all the Wrangler clothes I wanted. I was impressed but at that age, the thing that upset me most was having to tell my friends that we weren't going to America after all. Looking back, I would have been moulded into a Nashville sounding artist and that wouldn't have worked for me. I like to be in control of my life and my own music style.'

For the next few years, Luan focused on school, her music and having fun with her own age group and experiencing an organic, natural growth musically rather than, perhaps the forced, artificial life she would be living in the US. In her late teens Luan, along with her three brothers and a girlfriend Elaine Porter, put together a band called 'Heaven's Last' and began performing at the weekends in the local pubs.

'We had been listening to my dad's old vinyls for years to bands like Fleetwood Mac and the Rolling Stones and singer/songwriters like Bob Dylan, so these were some of our influences. We had a great time gigging and had a regular slot every Saturday night in Mulvihill's Pub in the town.'

Then at 20, Luan was signed by Sony records and spent a year in America working with top record producer Bill Bottrell, who produced for Michael Jackson for seven years.

When she returned she wrote and recorded her second album 'Free' in 2007. The album was a great success, went gold and the very popular single 'Ghost' from the album was in the top ten charts for weeks.

Her latest album, ' The Full Circle' comes out on September 17. She says of it, ' This is the album I've always wanted to do. I co-wrote two of the songs on it and wrote all the rest. I also co-produced it. It incorporates all my many musical influences and is probably more rocky and a lot less country. I'm trying to move away from the country singer image and I hope I've achieved that with this album.'

Luan feels complimented to be likened to singing heavyweights, like Sheryl Crow and Stevie Nicks of whom she is a big fan and loves their music. She feels she has been fortunate in her career, in the type of people she has met and worked with and in the fact that she never had to do something like the 'X Factor'.

'I've been in this business a long time now and know a lot of people. I'm very lucky to have great people around me like my friend and producer Chris Kimsey and a really great team. I would hate to have been involved in something like the 'X Factor' where you have no real say or any real control. The pressure too that those contestants are under is massive. I would never want to go through that and I don't have to, I know I've been very lucky.'

We will be seeing and hearing a lot more of Luan Parle in the coming weeks on our TV screens, on radio interviews, and in newspapers and magazines, as this talented singer/songwriter goes about the country promoting her new album. It seems only a matter of time, when we will see her break into the UK and the US markets as she continues to follows her star.

Luan Parle's single 'Why Baby Why' from her new album is out now and is available to download on ITunes.