Video: Ballinderry schoolgirl who learned guitar while ill racks up hits with raw acoustic covers

Aimee has been hired to work at weddings and regularly competes in the Scor

Aimee McVey, just 16, said she first started playing to make herself happy when her digestive system failed, but friends encouraged her to share her amazing talent through a Youtube channel.

Now some of her performances have turned the heads of over 90,000 viewers on various music sites across the net.

Speaking to the Mid Ulster Mail, the budding artist said it all started when she was off school for eight months, recovering from serious illness.

But in that time the St Pius X student said she got really bored and so she “picked up a guitar and learned how to play it” as she “always had an interest in singing”.

“I always did shows, productions and performance,” she explained, “but I fell sick when I was third year and I was off for a good eight months.

“I had a stomach problem, my digestive system completely failed on me.

“So then I got really bored at the house because there was nothing else to do, then I picked up a guitar and learned how to play it by going on websites and stuff and teaching myself.”

Now the soon-to-be 17-year-old, is taking orders to perform at weddings, regularly competes in Scor competitions, and more and more people are sharing her videos online.

“I always did shows, productions and performance,” she said. “I always had an interest in singing because it was something I enjoyed really, but ever since that people started saying you should put them up on Facebook.

“So I put one up two years ago, then they all started telling me to do a Youtube channel. One, Hit the Disc by Roddy Mullan, that video hit over 90,000 views and I was a bit gobsmacked.”

Asked where she would like it all to go, the A-Level student said: “It’s more like a hobby, but I’ve been asked to do a few weddings. I do the Scor and I have a show coming up in Ardboe Hall on May 9.

But as for her plans to make a career out of it, she said she’s “not so sure” because she’s still at school but a career in music would be something she would really like. She’s at McVey Official on Youtube.