Photo by: John Lindroth

The cover shot for Shayla’s record. The photo was shot by professional photographer John Lindroth as one of the prizes Shayla received for winning the “Summerville’s Got Talent” contest.

Most people only get to dream about bright lights, big stages, and major record deals.

For 13-year-old singer Shayla Degregorio, known in musical circles as “Shayla D,” the dream is becoming more real every day.

The Summerville teen, who has been performing since age 6, has already achieved a number of successes, including winning “Summerville’s Got Talent” and finishing as a runner up in “Lowcountry’s Got Talent” talent shows.

Most recently, however, Shayla took another step toward making her dream real: she is one of 18 young artists from North and South Carolina being featured on a new compilation CD called “Pride of the Carolinas.”

“I was so excited and honored to be one of the 18 people on the CD out of over 4,000 considered,” Shayla said of this latest project.

The idea behind the CD is to showcase young musical artists from North and South Carolina and show the record industry – indeed the world -- that the Carolinas is, in fact, a hotbed of talent, according to Chris Clay of Platinum Vybe Recordings, the Charlotte, NC based record company that is producing the CD.

Most of the artists on the CD competed in regional contests. In fact, Shayla’s mother saw an announcement on Facebook about the contest and thought a local radio station was sponsoring it; as it turned out, 95.1 KISS FM in Charlotte was actually sponsoring the contest, Shayla’s father, Robert Degregorio said. Still, it sounded like a great opportunity for his daughter except for one problem: Shayla was too young to enter. Undeterred, Degregorio found Clay’s name and contact information and sent him a link to Shayla’s YouTube page.

“I basically told him I knew she was not old enough for the contest but wanted to know what he thought of her,” Degregorio said. “Well, a couple of weeks passed and he sent me a message that he thought we were onto something and that he wanted us to come up to Charlotte to meet with him. So the next week we did.”

Shayla sang a song for Clay, who then asked her to be part of the Pride of the Carolinas project, DeGregorio said. In fact, he said, Clay had written a song for Shayla called, “Take Me Away”; he told her that if she could learn the song and come back in a week, then they would record.

Shayla jumped at the chance and a week later, she had a single and a one-song record deal, Degregorio said.

“I just wanted to dance when I first heard the song,” Shayla said. “It had a fun tempo and relatable message.”

She also said she really enjoyed the experience of working in a real music studio and especially enjoyed working with Chris Clay.

“It was so cool,” she said. “He made us feel comfortable and it feels like we have known each other for years. He was very honest and told me that I had a great voice but it was going to take a lot of work to make it in the industry. I am so thankful that he has given me a chance to be part of the Pride of the Carolinas Compilation. I am truly honored.”

 Degregorio said because Shayla is so young – the youngest performer on the CD by several years -- he wanted to ensure that whatever she performed was appropriate for her age.  He also said the family is all about encouraging Shayla to follow her dreams, but only as long as she wants to do it.

“My wife and I are not going to be the stereotypical stage parents,” he said. “We want what’s best for her and we’re all about finding opportunities for her to pursue her dreams -- but we’re not about to push her into anything.”

Still, this experience was a nice taste of a possible future – even if nothing comes of it, she will always have the happy memory of working on a real project in a real recording studio with real musicians and producers, he said.

Shayla said her dad played some of the CD, including her cut, for her friends at her birthday party.

“They all loved it and can’t wait for it to come out,” she said.

They won’t have to wait much longer; the CD releases January 24 on iTunes, Rhapsody, CD Baby, Best Buy, Target, and Walmart. It contains 18 tracks in three different genres of music: Hip Hop, R&B, and Pop. Shayla’s song is in the pop category, DeGregorio said. The plan is to take the top selling track from each genre and offer that artist a full album deal with Sony Records.

“All I have ever wanted to do since I can remember is be a professional singer,” Shayla said. “I just love to sing and I feel so comfortable when I perform. I love to see the reaction on people’s faces when I sing for them.”    

“I know it is going to take a lot of work -- but I am ready to try,” she added.  “I just really hope for my song to be a success and it will be the start for me to live out my dreams of becoming a Famous Singer!”

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