Stage is set for Jonathan to hit the big time

Jonathan Carr may be starting out in the business, but top musicians have already said they are proud to work with him.

The 21-year-old singer and pianist, from Newmains, Lanarkshire, raised funds to attend Berklee College Of Music in Boston, America.

While there he got the chance to record with country legend James Taylor and seven times Grammy winner John Mayer. Now Jonathan has returned home in an attempt to follow in the footsteps of his music idols.

He said: “Berklee was an amazing experience and I learned so much while I was there. I met people who had the most extraordinary talent and just being among them was a learning experience in itself.

“I feel like my sound is much more my own now, I have my own style and just hope people like it.”

Jonathan had classical piano lessons as a youngster, but when his music sight-reading let him down he turned to jazz.

After seeing Tony Bennet play at the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow, he knew the music style was perfect for him.

Jonathan was discovered by jazz singer and songwriter Sheila Jordan at a music workshop in Edinburgh.

She wrote a personal recommendation to Berklee College, which led to a nerve-wracking audition in Dublin before Jonathan was offered a place.

Jonathan, a former pupil of Taylor High School, New Stevenston, near Motherwell, held a fundraising concert before travelling to America.

The bill included singer Michelle McManus, who won the TV series Pop Idol in 2003, jazz singer and pianist Liane Carroll and pianist Brian Kellock.

Jonathan says he also could not have made it to America without his father Gerard, a music teacher, mother Geraldine, a nurse, and sister Jennifer, 16.

Just being able to attend Berklee was a dream come true for Jonathan – but one year’s study there costs more than £25,000 and he found raising funds for the course extremely hard.

After two years he made the difficult decision to give up his place at the college to come home to Newmains – and now he is making a bid to get a record deal.

During the past year Jonathan has played countless gigs, supported Hue And Cry and had his EP, Letters And Reveries, played on BBC radio.

John Mayer sang on Jonathan’s song The Joke’s On Me and afterwards he told the star-struck young musician: “I know you will be telling your friends you worked with me, but I have a feeling it won’t be long before I can proudly tell my friends I worked with you.”

Being at the college allowed Jonathan to experience a vast array of music styles and talents.

He says his time in America, where he got the chance to travel to Miami and New York, broadened his tastes and gave him his own sound.

He added: “Leaving was really hard and I miss Boston, but I feel I have done the right thing.

“There was no way I could find enough funding for another two years and it is time I tried to make a career for myself.

“I hope the right person will hear my music and think I have what it takes.”

Jonathan gave up a place studying law to go to Boston and says if the music falls through he will make qualifying for the bar his Plan B.

But for now he is determined to turn singing into a career.

He added: “I’m not asking for much. I don’t want massive fame – I just want to make enough to have a comfortable living and be able to perform.

“That feeling when you are on stage and you have everybody’s attention is the best in the world.”