Miranda Finn is proof that when it comes to dreamin’, you’ve
gotta go big. This weekend, the singer/songwriter will perform at the Music for
a Cause festival in Santa Clarita, Calif., part of the American Cancer Society’s
Relay for Life. A few weeks ago, she released her first EP on iTunes. Before
that, her song “Maybe I Can Change This World” was selected as the theme song
for the viral Bald and Beautiful Barbie Facebook movement. And did we mention
she just turned 12?
Her recent success has been a dozen years in the
making—Miranda says she’s known she’s wanted to be a singer/songwriter since
she was born. But this middle schooler isn’t letting it go to her head.
“I’ve been lucky enough to have an EP produced because
people believed in me,” she says, “like my mom and dad, and my producer Avishay
Goren, who was actually introduced to me by my 8 year-old brother, if you can
believe that!”
Next up? An album for which she’s already writing songs.
Miranda’s role model is Taylor Swift, another young lady who shot for the
stars. She admires Taylor’s ability to turn stories from her life into songs
that so many people are able to relate to, and says she’s working hard to do
the same.
“I once met with someone big in the music industry,” Miranda
says, explaining her desire to pen her own music and lyrics. “He told me there
are a lot of good singers out there but only a few write their own music. He really inspired me to work on my original
songs.”
But it’s certainly not easy. Miranda spends most of her free
time honing her craft. She takes music, voice and dance lessons as often as she
cans, and clocks many, many hours writing and practicing her songs. But no
matter what, she won’t let anything—not even criticism—get her down.
“When I was little,” she says, “my mother read me this story
called The Lupine Lady about a little
girl whose grandmother told her that before she got too old, she should find a
way to put something into the world to make it more beautiful. So when the little girl got older, she
planted flowers wherever she went to make the world more beautiful. My music is
my flowers. If I get bad criticism, I just remember that.”
We’re betting Miranda is that secret garden just waiting to
be discovered. It’s only a matter of time before we see her songs shooting up
the charts, just like idol Taylor Swift’s.
BY BRITTANY TAYLOR ON 5/17/2012 9:52:00 PM
POSTED IN Goal Getter, Get Inspired, charity