A talented busker is set for stardom after being offered the chance to play in an iconic New York rock club by Billy Joel's bassist. Poppy Waterman-Smith, 25, first hit the headlines three years ago when she was invited to open pop legend Seal's gig after he was wowed by her performance in Manchester City Centre. She has now been offered the 'chance of a lifetime' to play at the Bitter End on February 10 after Larry Russell spotted her music videos on YouTube.The venue is the oldest in New York and has previously hosted legends such as Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Bette Midler and Stevie Wonder. Poppy, who lives in Sidbury, Worcester, said: 'It was completely out of the blue and I was gobsmacked when Larry Russell got in touch.'He just said 'I really like what you are doing with your music, I live in New York, can I help in any way?'.'So I thought 'if you don't ask, you don't get' and just said 'if you can get me a gig that would be amazing.''He said he would see what he could do and then the next day asked me to come over in February.'It's quite a big jump from busking and gigging locally to playing New York's oldest rock club. It's the chance of a lifetime.'I have no idea what to expect but I can't wait for the opportunity. It's incredible really, these sort of gigs are completely priceless.'I will be practising hard until then as it will be a big night for me. I don't really feel nervous yet, the feelings usually sink in right before I perform.'There could potentially be label interest. If the right opportunity was offered to me, I would take it. The Seal gig has been the catalyst for this, it has opened new doors to me and Larry would never have found me without it.'Seal was basically saying 'this is your moment - you can do it from now'.'
Poppy joined Seal onstage as his warm-up act and performed to over 4,000 people at the sold-out concert at Bridgewater Hall. Multi-instrumentalist Poppy, who performs under the stage name Poppy WS, has only been performing for three years and has released two independent albums. She sold all 500 copies of her first self-released album 'Acoustic' in just a month and now hopes to play in America could lead to record company interest. Poppy, who lives in Sidbury, Worcester, said: 'It was completely out of the blue and I was gobsmacked when Larry Russell got in touch.'He just said 'I really like what you are doing with your music, I live in New York, can I help in any way?'.'So I thought 'if you don't ask, you don't get' and just said 'if you can get me a gig that would be amazing.''He said he would see what he could do and then the next day asked me to come over in February.'It's quite a big jump from busking and gigging locally to playing New York's oldest rock club. It's the chance of a lifetime.'I have no idea what to expect but I can't wait for the opportunity. It's incredible really, these sort of gigs are completely priceless.'I will be practising hard until then as it will be a big night for me. I don't really feel nervous yet, the feelings usually sink in right before I perform.'There could potentially be label interest. If the right opportunity was offered to me, I would take it.'The Seal gig has been the catalyst for this, it has opened new doors to me and Larry would never have found me without it.'Seal was basically saying 'this is your moment you can do it from now'.'
Poppy, who started playing piano aged six, began learning the guitar while studying for a degree in music technology at Leeds Metropolitan University. After graduating in 2014, she initially worked in a bar, but eventually began to perform music finding she could make more money from a couple hours of busking. She now gigs regularly as a full-time musician playing music venues, weddings and hosting open mic nights in Worcester. She added: 'I do still busk but I gig more now. It's quite a wholesome experience. If I do busk, I stay local.'I had an album out two years ago, another last year and I am working on the next one.'They were self-released - I recorded them myself and mixed them, a friend helped with mastering.'It makes you feel proud once it is finished. I made 500 copies of each album and I sold out the first one in a month.'It's brilliant that people still want to pay for music.'It's mad how people around the world are listening to me. The fact they are in their cars and have my CD playing. It is incredible.'I absolutely love music and performing, it is very rewarding. In the future, I want to take every opportunity and see where it takes me.'