Songwriter Polly does it again

Polly Mackey and The Pleasure Principle

Local singer songwriter Polly Mackey keeps picking up the accolades - and she's still only a teen, writes Nick Bourne.

Polly, 17, from Wrexham has just won the Make it Break it Awards 2009 and the prize includes performing in front of music industry bigwigs.

Polly won a national song writing competition in the 17-19 age group with her song, 'The Way It Works' - and among the judges was Coldplay's front man Chris Martin - himself a previous winner in the 90s when he was 15.

Polly's win is the latest in a string of accolades this year for herself and her band The Pleasure Principle - otherwise known as Adam Valentine, drums; Dan Davies, bass; and Tom Hassall, guitar.

In July, they beat off competition from 1,700 bands to get themselves a gig at the Spanish festival Benicassim, although this year's event was affected due to severe weather.

In March, Polly and the band performed at the South by South West music and cultural festival in Austin, Texas, playing half a dozen gigs - again after being picked from thousands of hopefuls. And they've also played at this year's Liverpool SoundCity Music Festival and MTV Music Week.

Competition judge Marsha Shandur, of XFM Radio, told wrexhammusic.co.uk : "I definitely want to keep an eye on Polly… I think she is a great talent and I'll be very interested to see how she develops."

Polly wins a five-day session at Paul McCartney's Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) along with a recording session and A&R meetings at EMI's London studios.

On Saturday 31 October, Polly and the band will perform at the official Make it Break it Awards ceremony at LIPA to an audience of music industry professionals and the Press.