Young songwriter of the year Stella Reilly picks up her prize

The young songwriter of the year, Perthshire’s Stella Reilly, has revealed she is going to use her £1000 prize money to buy a new flute.

The Bridge of Earn teenager beat competition from across the UK to win the title at the end of last year.

Her song, It’s Me It’s You, was shortlisted by a panel of music luminaries including Sir Terry Wogan, Midge Ure of Ultravox and Nick Mason of Pink Floyd, who all thought it was a potential hit.

Thousands downloaded the tune and cast their vote, with all proceeds going to Barnardo’s.

Stella, a pupil at Kilgraston School, is focusing on her Higher exams in May but hopes to find some free time to take part in open mic sessions.

She also won music software and received her prize from Barnardo’s Scotland this week.

She said, “I will use the majority of the money to buy a new flute. I have needed one for a while now.

“The music software will help me progress quicker with my songwriting. It will help me analyse and hopefully produce better songs.

“I’m also thinking about setting up a home studio in the future and the software will help me with this.”