WITH respect to the thousands of people who have sung karaoke in Bridlington, something sets Edwina Hayes apart.
Can anyone else who has had a turn on the mic at the Hook And Parrot claim Michael Parkinson is one of their biggest fans?
Or that they have appeared on the same stage as music A-listers like Van Morrison, Jools Holland, Daniel Bedingfield and KT Tunstall?
Or that they can pop into their local supermarket and put a CD with one of their own songs into their shopping basket.
Edwina can do all of those, she has an album out now which is getting airplay on BBC Radio Two and she is keeping her fingers crossed that it could all lead to an appearance on Parky's television show.
Given that she has been described as 'an unforgettable, original and worldwide talent' she stands every chance, but she has not forgotten her Bridlington roots.
In the sleeve notes of her CD, Out On My Own, she thanks Bridlington Folk Club, the Mon-Fort Hotel and Rags Restaurant.
Edwina was born in Dublin and raised in Preston, but moved to Bridlington as a teenager. After spells living in London, Spain and America, she has returned to the East Riding. Despite the attention which has come her way, she lives with her mum in the not-so-glamorous town of Driffield.
But she still comes back to Bridlington as often as she can and during a recent visit, she chatted to Free Press reporter John Edwards.

What are your memories of Bridlington?
"My family moved here in 1994 and I started going with my guitar to Bridlington Folk Club at the Tillie Morrison bar. I got a job at the Hook and Parrot as a barmaid and I used to get up and do karaoke every week.
"Then Jeff Longley, who was well-known in Bridlington and is one of the best musicians I have heard, helped me out. I got some backing tapes and rang everywhere up.
"My very first solo gig was at the Ridings in Hilderthorpe Road in 1996 for £60, a fortune for me. I only knew 24 songs and I was terrified. The owner told me that whatever I did I mustn't pull the plug out of the fish tank when I was setting up.
"But as I was plugging in my PA, the lights on the fish tank went off for a second and I was worried all night about the fish and what the owner would say.
"My mum bought Captain Scott's fish and chip shop in Prince Street and I worked in the cafe upstairs. When it was closed I used to sit in there with the lights out and just the street light shining in and learn new songs.
"I had a flat above Harbor Lites so if I ever needed entertaining I used to stick my head out of the window at 2am and watch people. It was really good fun and they were very happy times."

What made you leave town?
"In 1999, even though it was great money doing cabaret in the pubs and clubs, I had gone as far as I could go. I went to Spain and got a job in a restaurant, just playing my guitar, which managed to fund three months out there.
"After that I couldn't face coming back and doing covers, even though it had taught me a lot about stage presence and the business of going off, finding venues and making sure you got paid. I really wanted to do my own stuff.
"I came back from Spain, moved to London and took my guitar. Within six weeks I had found an acoustic music club and I used to get up and play a couple of songs every week Each week they had a headline act and KT Tunstall used to play there quite often.
"I fell in love with the whole scene and started writing my own songs because most clubs only wanted you to play original songs."

Then you decided to try your hand in one of the music capitals of the world?
"I started writing like crazy and then I went to America on holiday. I drove from one side of America to the other with my guitar and I discovered Nashville. I had always wanted to go and I fell in love with the place.
"In 2002 I got a Visa to go and work and live out there and as I was about to go I got offered a songwriting contract and they didn't mind me moving.
"Eighteen months later I was offered a recording contract on Warner Brothers, but they wanted me to move back to Britain, so I moved to my Mum's in Driffield."

How did you develop your interest in music?
"I used to learn music a lot at school, that's where I learnt to play guitar and my family is musical too. When I went to university there was an American exchange student living down the corridor and she taught me how to play songs by Bob Dylan, Crosby, Stills and Nash and Carole King."

And now you have one of your songs (I Want Your Love) on a number one compilation CD Acoustic Love, alongside the likes of Bob Dylan, Dido, Eva Cassidy and David Gray.
"It's a very big break and I'm still not sure how it happened. I was very surprised. I'd heard they were considering using one of my songs and that the CD was coming out at Christmas time.
"Then, I was in Tesco one day, looking really scruffy and I saw it on the shelf. I wanted to tell somebody 'that's me' but the only people I could see were a bored looking girl behind the cigarette counter and three old ladies looking round the fruit and veg section."

But it sounds like you have already got one celebrity fan.
"Michael Parkinson has been really good, he's lovely. He told me he used to come to Bridlington when he was a boy.
"He has played my song Eyes Of A Stranger anbout 10 times on his Radio two show. I was listening to him interviewing Joan Rivers and then all of a sudden my song came on.
"Parky seems to be championing me, which is great because he must like the music, there is nothing in it for him by praising me. I'm trying to get on the Radio Two playlist but it is such a tough business.
"I'm currently on tour with Jools Holland and this year I've supported Van Morrison, Daniel Beddingfield, Nanci Griffith and Ricky Ross on tour, amongst others.
"The best thing about having the CD out is that I have been able to do these tours. I've played the Royal Albert Hall and the Birmingham National Indoor Arena. It has been such a joy.

So, with all this fame, do you get to come back to Bridlington much?
"I come through to Bridlington whenever I can. The Central cafe in Cliff Street does the best chip butties and milky coffees. I'm a coffee connisseur but theirs is the best.
"The only Bridlington gig I kept on when I left was Rags Restuarant on New Year's Eve. It's become a tradition now and I have done it nearly every year since I moved here."

Music fans who want to see Edwina perform locally will not have to wait until the end of the year. She is appearing at Scholar's in Scarborough on Wednesday, November 30.
Her album Out On My Own is available now and can be bought at Knight Music in Hilderthorpe Road, Bridlington.

For more on Edwina visit: www.edwinahayes.com