13-year-old hopes for great things in her music career

When she was only 2 years old, Caroline Bost stood on a Columbia County fair stage and sang her heart out, singing her own rendition of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

Eleven years later, the 13-year-old Evans Middle School pupil says the stage is still where she likes to be.

"My happy place, I like to call it," she said of the stage. "It's where I can go and nothing else in the world matters."

With two cover-song CDs - one cut when she was in the sixth grade and the second the next year - under her belt, Caroline has more recently turned her attention to working on original music. Evans Middle School chorus teacher Wendy Baggott and her husband Kevin have been helping the youngster fulfill a dream of a compilation of original songs.

"Over my seventh-grade summer, my chorus teacher decided to spend a little extra time with me," said Caroline, the daughter of Mark Bost, of Martinez, and Rhonda McPherson, of Evans. "Her husband, Kevin, wrote some songs for and about me."

The completion of her third CD will take a while, as all of the music produced has been computer generated and Caroline and the Baggotts are working to find musicians to play the original scores.

"It takes the longest time," said the eighth-grader, who spends an estimated two hours a day rehearsing her songs. "It's hard work."

Earlier this year, Caroline was in North Carolina doing a performance at a county fair. She calls that experience "amazing," but said her favorite performance to date was at this year's Rockin' Rib and Music Fest in Augusta, where she performed her first public show of all-original music.

"I could actually get on stage and give somebody something that was mine and share that a little bit," she said of performing the original songs.

Although she's never taken private singing lessons, Caroline boasts some musical talent in her family.

Her mother plays the piano and her maternal grandfather, Harry Madden, plays the guitar.

But her love of music - namely country - came from listening to it as she grew up.

"I've grown up listening to it," she said of country music. "Going on trips, no one ever played anything different."

In fact, one of Caroline's favorite songs to sing is Something More by Sugarland.

"It's just like how relative it is to my life," she said of what draws her to specific songs.

Caroline hopes to be that diamond in the sky one day, as she plans great things for her music career.

"I want to be around for a long time," she said, adding that she wants to be remembered like the late Patsy Cline for her contribution to music. "I want to be known and be around for a while."