We caught up this month with Rosahlee, a former 4-time Teen Talent Showcase star at the festival. Rosahlee has since returned to our stage twice as an adult.

Rosahlee was in middle school when a teacher first showed her a poster for our Teen Talent Showcase. Looking back at that day, she says “I always wanted a chance to play music on a big festival stage. This was a great opportunity to do something I had dreamed of. I was very excited to perform my music in front of such a large audience!”

Rosahlee was also a competitive figure skater and loved the performance aspect. “Playing my own music live was still new and slightly nerve-racking to me, but being up on stage felt like home due to my performing arts experience.”

When she first appeared as a Teen Talent artist, Rosahlee was excited to share an original song, “a fun, upbeat one titled ‘Can’t Tell Me No.’” Rosahlee says her songwriting has matured, and these days she’s “more comfortable sharing vulnerable lyrics with listeners and connecting with an audience.” Today, Rosahlee performs a mix of covers with her own original music. But, she says, “all of my original music that I perform and have released is entirely self-written and does take up a good portion of the sets I play.” Rosahlee goes on to say that when an audience knows “the words you sing are genuine and come from within, they know that you as an artist are someone that they can trust.” She believes her recent single, “Growing Pains,” is her most honest song yet, about aspects of growing up that are uncomfortable and unfamiliar at times.

Rosahlee hopes to perform again at the Oak Harbor Festival. “It’s a great event and something I look forward to every year whether attending or performing!”

She is thankful that the Festival inspired her career with an opportunity to pursue her passion for music, and “I am especially grateful to Deidre Fairfax and Larry Mason for providing us teens with such a wonderful opportunity.”

Rosahlee is still a local Oak Harbor resident, still performs regularly, and heads south for a show at the Mesa Music Festival in Arizona next month. Just recently, she played the Penn Cove Musselfest for the first time, and she plays local events all around Washington.

Locals who have seen Rosahlee perform the last few years might wonder who the quiet young man is on stage with her. Darius Williams, she says, is “an extremely talented singer/bassist/percussionist and music producer. I’m grateful to have had him on my musical journey for so many years. He had the chance to accompany me at the Oak Harbor Music Festival the last three times and loved the local community.”

Rosahlee dreams of a career as a full time touring artist. “My passion is performing and connecting with others through music. I’ll be taking all opportunities that come up to keep sharing my music and growing an audience.”

Take a listen to Rosahlee right here:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/6XPShUMWeRPrseRTa5uCXz