Piper Butcher made 2021 a year that counted with new music and successful surgery

But alas, it's not meant to be. The festival has been moved to April, and the gig cancelled.

But don't worry, the future looks mighty bright for Butcher.

Her first public performance - June 1, 2016, came when Harry Hookey called her up to the stage at an open mic night, where she sang a cover of Angus and Julia Stone song. Now age 17, the West Wallsend singer songwriter has performed at more than 370 shows.

She's had her mind set on being a music star since she was a child.

"Everyone is meant to do something," she says. "I'm going to stick with it."

While she began her career playing country music, she has gradually moved closer to mainstream. It's an evolution, really. She grew listening to Keith Urban and Kasey Chambers, but throws in John Mayer as one of her childhood favourites, too.

She is particularly enamored with the sound of the Teskey Brothers at the moment.

"It's an evolving sound: with influences I've been listening to, with the people around me playing different music," she says. "I'm writing in more of a mainstream sound, to be honest. I'm going to go down a soul roots vibe more than a country vibe."

The players in her band have plenty of tickets of their own - Hunter Beasley (bluegrass banjo genius, part of Charlie & Jensen), Nicholas Wright (original member of Good Corn Liquor), James Edge (drummer for Brad Cox) and Emily A Smith. Her soulful sound thrives with accompaniment - as in Before The Thunder.

"I'm always going to have that vibe, no matter what," she says of her country roots. "That's where I began, that's where my support started. But I will never shy away from a country way."

A year ago, Butcher had surgery on a cleft palate, a common birth defect where the palate fails to develop properly, creating a hole between the roof of the mouth and the floor of the nose.

Although she had childhood operations, it was predicted she would need corrective surgery as she grew up.

The surgery sidelined her for a couple of months, but she returned to put out an EP of original music.

"My latest surgery has changed me drastically," she says. "While I had to relearn techniques, it has also helped me gain more control and projection. And some of my pronunciation is different."

Last year she produced a single, Before The Thunder, that stands up against the best in country or blues.

"Before The Thunder was an idea that I wrote in my room one day," she says. "It followed a personal experience when someone tried to take someone from me, without explanation or reason. Its my way of saying, 'we are all in the same boat. Take your time and find your person.'"

She's worked hard at songwriting, and is pretty protective of her process.

"I stick to myself a lot until I feel a song is ready to be shown," she says. "It might be my parents, or friends... to see which parts they connect to.

"It's quite difficult to say, 'I love you, but toughen me up on your feedback'. The thing I do the most, if I have a song, I try to put the most positive spin on it - 'hey, which parts do you like most?' I can build the song up to that."

Butcher says a new song, yet to be released, Unconscious Minds, may be her best yet.

"It's earthy sounding," she says. "It brings me back to my roots. It's such a raw sound."