LIVE MUSIC: Joni Fuller, charity concert in Arundel

Joni, 19, who lives near Blackpool, said: “We spend a lot of time in Arundel and West Sussex. My grandparents live there.

“My dad originally was from there. My grandmother is part of the committee that is putting together the evening.”

Accompanied by a guitarist or two, Joni is planning a full set for her date at Arundel Town Hall on Tuesday, February 22, (tickets £30 inclusive of champagne reception and wine).

“I have lots of songs that I can pull on. I will have to narrow them down to an acoustic set. I like to move around.

“I like to play lots of instruments. I always like to keep the gigs varied. I move from piano to violin to guitar.

“My first instrument was the violin when I was about five. I was really young when I got going with it.

“My parents were reluctant at first because they are not really musical and because it was expensive.

“And I don’t think my parents realised at first that it was unusual the pace at which I was progressing with it.

“My teacher pulled them aside and said ‘This is amazing!’ I was eight when I got accepted into the junior part of the Royal Northern College of Music.

“I was getting my classical training from there.

“My music has got classical influences because of that, but primarily my music is much more geared towards the rock end of things from quite an early age.

“I have enjoyed the classical side, but it was not really what I wanted to get into.”

Joni did her first gig at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland: “That was in front of a few thousand people.

“It was a bit scary.

“Really, I was straight in at the deep end.

“I used to just play piano and sing, but lately, it has progressed. I often play with another guitarist and sometimes I also play with a full band.

“I enjoy playing with a band the most.”

Joni won the Make it Break it Songwriting Contest in both 2008 and 2009 and was featured as an Inspirational Teenager by The Independent newspaper in October, 2009. In March, 2010, Joni was awarded Best Female Artist at the Exposure Music Awards.

Joni’s Arundel evening is called Music By Gaslight.

The Town Hall’s gas chandelier, which is 150 years old this year and the only one in working order in the UK, will be lit for the evening.