A talented young musician from Colwyn Bay will be sharing the stage with some big stars at a top music festival this summer.
Fourteen-year-old Will Glanville, a pupil at Myddelton College, Denbigh, is tuning up for the four-day Deva Fest featuring the Human League, The Coral and X Factor star Rebecca Ferguson by busking in Llandudno.
Will earned his place at the event at Cholmondeley Castle in Cheshire in August after impressing in the busking tent last year.
It’s a big chance for Will who will be supporting the likes of Ocean Colour Scene and Seventies stars Toyah Wilcox and Robert Fripp who bring the curtain down on the Sunday of the event which starts on Thursday, August 8.
He said: “I’m really looking forward to it. I love music and have had a huge amount of encouragement from the teachers in the Music Department at school. It really helps having great facilities including a recording studio there.
“I’ve been writing some of my own material and busking in Llandudno– whenever it’s sunny.”
Will enjoys indie rock and has recently developed a taste for the blues while his music has already attracted half a million hits on TikTok.
As well as busking in Llandudno he has performed at Colwyn Bay’s PromXtra music festival and in Chester music venue Alexander’s which has played host to acts as diverse as jazzmen Humphrey Lyttleton and Ronnie Scott, Welsh soul queen Duffy and Ed Sheeran.
His mum, Nicky, said: “Will was about seven or eight years old when he first picked up an old guitar of my dad’s and he just didn’t need any encouragement to practice. He enjoys performing, song-writing and being on stage.
“His dad, my husband Simon plays the violin and he busked his way through university before becoming a geologist.”
A spokesperson for DevaFest said: “Will joined us last year at DevaFest just a few days after his 13th birthday, stepping-up to the mike and playing a fab acoustic set in the busking tent on Sunday afternoon.
“After rocking the busking tent, we’ve invited him back this year to play on the Heart and Soul stage.”
Myddelton School Head of Music Richard Walsh said: “Will’s a real talent and is in Year 10 so has started GCSE Music and is in the school band, The Myddeltones, as lead guitarist and singer.
“He has also formed his own collective group with some of the brass players in his Year and they’re looking to record a single in the school studio.
“It’s a big advantage that they can record here and that we have media students who can help with videos etc – it’s the full package for them really.
“He has lots of talent and it will be interesting to see where it takes him in the future.
“He wants to study popular music at the Royal College of Music in Manchester and that should be a fantastic platform for him.”
Headmaster Andrew Allman said: “The school has one of the best sound studios in the area and we’re investing in the new music department so it does provide wonderful opportunities for musicians and for learning about the technical side of producing music.”
Myddelton College, an award winning Independent co-educational day and boarding school, was the UK’s newest independent school when it opened in the autumn of 2016 and is the only school in North Wales with a 5G network.
The school currently has over 350 pupils, 96 of them boarders and 70 staff, including 35 teachers and Mr Allman added: “We want to provide a well-rounded education and give all our pupils a breadth of opportunities, indoors and outdoors, including the chance to work with and form bonds with people and countries all over the world.”
