You may recognize this 19-year-old singing Canada鈥檚 anthem during Rockets games or at events strumming her grandmother鈥檚 beat up Gibson guitar.

琉璃神社 resident Rachel Layne took a semester off from her Bachelor of Arts English degree at UBCO to pursue a career in music.

鈥淚 just really wanted to focus on music, and while I was going to school, I mean I love English, but music is what I want to do as a career and I was sort of missing that at UBCO,鈥� she said.

The musician sings, writes her own music, and strums her grandmother鈥檚 guitar which at one point, belonged in a bar band.

For the last 10 year鈥檚 Layne has been one of the opening anthem singers at 琉璃神社 Rockets games. She remembers auditioning for them at seven, singing the Canadian anthem at her first game when she was nine.

Over the years, she sang national anthems for other local sports teams including the West 琉璃神社 Warriors and the 琉璃神社 Falcons.

鈥淪inging anthems is a way to get experience singing in front of a crowd of thousands of people, it鈥檚 one of the quickest ways to do so. It鈥檚 still so incredible even after singing anthems for 10 years,鈥� said Layne.

Occasionally, the well-mannered musician travels to Vancouver to sing for the openings of the BC Lions and performs with a hired band, saying the opportunities are better for her to meet like-minded musicians.

鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of far from where I live but I enjoy singing there too,鈥� she said.

Singing has been in Layne鈥檚 life for as long as she can remember. Her parents told her she sang at two years old around their house.

She speculates her musical gene could鈥檝e come from a past relative, as her parents aren鈥檛 musical.

She began with piano lessons and as she grew older, took up the guitar and began writing music. Layne records her music in her homemade studio, recording demo songs over guitar and piano tracks on an iPad in a closet.

鈥淚t works out perfectly,鈥� she laughed. 鈥淵ou have the clothes and they sort of absorb the sound so you get that really clear sound.鈥�

For the summer, she鈥檚 been booking more gigs to break into the music scene but doesn鈥檛 plan on pursuing a record label anytime soon.

鈥淵ou can become an incredible independent artist and make a living,鈥� she said, adding there鈥檚 more freedom being an independent artist, however, with a label contacts are easier to gain.

For more information on her latest performances, check out her website at www.rachellayne.com or follow her on and .

Layne will be singing at the Civic awards in May.