Lily Dannelly has the voice of an angel and an equally sweet demeanor. The Panhandle Focus caught up with this up and coming musician recently as she performed at the Animation in Motion display in Niceville.

Lily was born in the area but moved away from it when she was still young.  This past summer she was able to return.

My dad retired from the Air Force in June and we decided to move back,” said Lily. “I’ve moved here off and on my whole life so even though I’ve moved about sixteen times so far, this feels more like home than anywhere else I’ve ever lived. And the beach is awesome!”

For Lily, music has been her passion from early on. “I’ve been singing practically ever since I was born. It’s something I’ve always liked to do. I was always particularly interested in playing the guitar.”

At thirteen, she taught herself chords by learning songs she liked on her dad’s guitar. “It was probably watching him play all my life that first sparked my interest. The first song I ever learned was “Wonderwall” by Oasis, and the music obsession just grew from there.”

She taught herself to play the piano using chords during 11th grade, and ukulele chords soon after. “I can’t read music to save my life, though,” she says.

Lily’s debut performance  was singing “Castle on a Cloud” from Les Miserables at a church talent show. Very young, Lily says she barely remembers that performance.

“The first one I can actually remember was also at a church talent show. I was thirteen and I sang “To The Sky” by Owl City to a karaoke track and totally bombed it,” she says. “I remember being so frustrated with myself. It wasn’t until about a year later when I played guitar and sang “Forever and Always” by Taylor Swift at the next talent show that I was really able to perform. Without an instrument in my hands, the stage fright is too much. It’s almost like when I have an instrument with me, I’m not alone on stage.”

For Lily, music is not a hobby. It’s a deep, fulfilling passion that drives her.

“Music is the absolute world to me,” she says. “It gets me through hard times and makes the good times even better. I’m extremely introverted, so it’s actually easier for me to speak through music than in actual words.”

At the moment, Lily is majoring in Art History at Northwest Florida State College. Curating at a big museum like the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City is my back-up plan if music doesn’t work out. In the meantime, I’ll be writing more songs, recording a lot, and releasing more singles and hopefully an EP or album by next spring. I’m also trying my best to find more gigs and possibly get in touch with a record label or at least a recording studio. I can’t record on my iPod forever, after all.”

Something to watch for, Lily Dannelly is currently getting a website built at www.lilydannelly.com, and she can be found on her Facebook page and Tumblr.  News of her performances and upcoming releases can be found online on her social media.

“I also have a sonicbids page at https://www.sonicbids.com/band/lily-dannelly/ which has more information on it such as my twitter account, Instagram, and Youtube channel,” says Lily. “And, like I said before, my music is on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, Spotify, and basically any online music store out there.”

Angela Yuriko Smith is a published author, editor of The Panhandle Focus, and 850 resident.