When she was 11 or 12, she branched out into Friday night markets and Christmas parades.
She established the Riley Booth Music brand when she was about 15 and started doing gigs.
Booth is a singer with the band Equal Phase, which has played from Taupō to Wellington. She enjoys having people on stage with her: another singer, a drummer and a guitarist.
They play 1980s and 1990s pop and have so much fun.
Booth loves performing on her own but said the band has given her an avenue she didn’t know she needed and reignited her spark.
The 23-year-old is a qualified early childhood teacher and has a diploma in contemporary music from UCOL.
On Sunday, Booth will sing songs performed by Adele, Bruno Mars, Etta James and Norah Jones.
Riley Booth has dabbled in solo performance, musical theatre, competitions, bands, and more during her time as a singer.
She used to run karaoke at Feilding Hotel and would sing until someone else wanted to have a go. This meant she learned a lot of genres as she responded to requests and adapted to the audience.
That job was how she met her partner. One night he jumped up trying to sing Hey Baby. Bailey kept returning for six weeks before anything happened, Booth said. Five years later they have a baby.
Free performances continue through NZ Music Month in central Palmerston North. Artists include Shellie Hanley, Dave Griffiths, Preeti Narayan, Nick Potts, Samba Ao Vento, and Miles Poananga.
The programme is at palmybid.co.nz/musicmonth or printed programmes can be picked up from Munch, Joe’s Garage, Stunned Mullet, Celtic Inn and Tony’s Pizza.
On Saturday from 12-12.30pm students and tutors from Try Music will take part in Rock Around The Clock, playing music from the Foo Fighters. The event will be in Te Marae o Hine/The Square.
