From Dubbo girl to being asked to sing the National Anthem at the cricket in front of thousands of people, Grace Fuller is proof you can make a living from music, even if you come from a small town. The ex-St Johns College student, who now lives in Sydney, was always the girl who was playing piano and wanted to make a living off her music - and now she is living her dream. "As an upcoming musician ... an aspiring singer-songwriter from a small town, it's often thought, I shouldn't do this - I should be a doctor or I should go to university and study something different," Ms Fuller told the Daily Liberal. READ ALSO: 'Never give up': Angie's independent pop album manifests a life-long dream "I was told many times as I was growing up ... not to be a musician and there's no money in music. "So I think it's amazing to be making it as a musician ... you just have to work really hard and know what you want." Ms Fuller will be singing the anthem at the Australia versus West Indies, women's T20Is cricket match, at North Sydney Oval on Sunday, October 1, and the cricket will be televised on Channel 7. She said it was "an honour" to have been chosen to sing such an important song. "It's still very surreal. Sometimes I just don't believe that it's happening," she said. "It's so exciting and I think a very big point in my career to even be invited to have that opportunity to audition - it's just a massive thing for me." READ ALSO: Waiter, model, stripper: He's an 'Ace' of spades and a jack of all trades Ms Fuller still calls Dubbo "home" - she has family and friends there and fond memories of learning music while growing up. Now 28 years old, she looks back at her time in Dubbo as an aspiring musician and says she is heartened to see more opportunities in local cafes, pubs and clubs for live music. She felt she had to come to Sydney "to make it" and studied a Bachelor of Music while gigging around the city. Her bookings grew and she landed weddings, corporate gigs, and residencies at the Menzies Hotel and Captain Cook Cruises. Ms Fuller is continually surprised she gets to do what she loves for work every day. "Sometimes people say, you know, I work too much and I think that it doesn't feel like work for me," she said. " ... I really love what I do and I think I'm just really one of the lucky ones that gets to do what they love every day." IN OTHER NEWS Ms Fuller is preparing to release her first single, which she describes stylistically as a mix of indie and pop, in October. She is writing music all the time - sometimes pulling over in the car to write down a lyric or record a melody on her phone - and hopes the new single will lead to more opportunities for her as a songwriter. The song will be available on Spotify. Keep an eye on Instagram @gracefullermusic for details. Reading this on mobile web? Download our news app here. It's faster, easier to read and we'll send you alerts for breaking news as it happens.
