Penny Lynch is a 12 year old singer from Acton in West London and her original song ‘Waves’ was recently shortlisted in the Top10 of the Song Academy Young Songwriters Competition.
Her vocal range stretches from soft ballads with jazz undertones over to big rock-pop tunes with belty high notes and riffs.
Penny regularly performs in events and festivals in the West London area as a soloist and as a lead vocalist for acoustic / piano duet and also teenage guitar pop-rock band The Tracks.
Penny and her band will be performing at Gunnersbury Park Garden Estate on Saturday 12th September 2026 and The Taste of Twickenham Festival on Sunday 13th September 2026.
She recently started learning the piano and due to this her original song was not recorded as her piano skills at the time were still in their infancy when she entered the conpetition.
The performance of her original song sees Penny not only showcase her powerful vocals as inspired by ‘Dog Day’ from Florence Welch but also her confident stage presence, as her friend Flynn accompanies on her piano
Penny tends to get inspired by films she has seem when writing, for example ‘WAVES’ was born after she watched True Spirit on Netflix, which was based on a true story about an Australian teenager who set off to sail the world solo.
Penny took time out of her busy schedule to answer a few questions for us:
1) When did your musical journey begin?
I was a bit miserable at school in year five, three years ago (age nine). However, an opportunity came up to do solo singing lessons for 20 minutes once a week during school hours. My mum signed me up with zero expectations and just told me to go and have some fun! My singing teacher Yassie was so lovely and kind and she managed to uncover the talent I never knew I had.
Three months later, I was belting out ‘Titanium’ by Sia in a church in Shepherds’ Bush and apparently, complete strangers were crying happy tears.
A local teen rock band saw my video and recruited me as their vocalist, which then led to more gigs and being spotted by another teenage guitar band who had lost their vocalist a week before a big gig at the Hanwell Hootie Festival.
I had two rehearsals over five days to meet the band and learn their entire setlist! It was a big challenge but I learnt so much by working with musicians much older and more experienced than myself (I was still only 11 years old and had my SATS the next week!)
We drew a big crowd and I was told that I was the youngest ever performer in the festivals’ history. As we did more gigs, we would never play a song the same way twice and I had to learn how to communciate and react live on stage.
Since starting secondary school in September I started to learn piano and guitar, which helped me to compose some music and have a go at songwriting.
I managed to sing and play piano (just) for one of my songs ‘Waves’ at a school “original songs” night when I was still 11 and then I entered it into the Song Academy National Young Songwriters Competition.
I was so proud when it recently got shortlisted in the Top 10 of my age category.
To give myself more opportunities to sing, I signed myself up for lots of solos and acoustic duets at school fairs and street markets, and every performance has led to a new exciting invitation.
The Terry Marshall Academy have been especially fantastic with this. My mum also created an Instagram account for me (as I’m not allowed a smartphone yet!) and it’s been a really useful tool to get my voice out there and also connect with so many other talented and exciting musicians so that we can support each other.
2) How did you get involved with Rising Voices?
I felt really honoured when Rising Voices got in touch with my mum via my Instagram account and asked me to apply to perform.
War Child UK is such a fantastic cause and I really loved the energy that the amazing Gemma Schito was putting into the whole event.
I was originally just going to perform a solo or an acoustic duet with a friend, however, as it is such a great stage at the TAM and given the whole band were available, I thought it would be more fun to bring the extra energy to our slot.
It was a fantastic evening and there were so many brilliant artists showcasing their talents. Many of them sounded even better live!
3) Are there any releases or events in the pipeline?
Sunday 2nd August I’ll be busking at Chiswick Car Boot Sale then I am taking a family ferry holiday to France, where I hope to do some busking and I have a big wedding to perform at the end of August.
I would love to make some more time in September for song-writing and improving my piano so that I can start to support myself more without backing tracks.
I’ve also been approached to collaborate with a few teenage artists, which will be fun and I’m hoping to provide vocals for a new band.
All very exciting, but I’m still only 12 and at school so you might have to wait a little while before I can get into a studio to record!
4) What are you currently up to when not recording in the studio or performing?
I seem to be always doing something music-related. However, before I moved to focus more time on music, I played football for the Actonians girls U12’s football team.
To prove it to a few doubters, last week after my school music awards ceremony I kicked off my fancy shoes and played football barefoot on the field with the older boys in a sequined cocktail dress. I managed to score a goal!
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