IN kindergarten Camryn dazzled the audience at her school's talent show with a performance of Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl."
At eight she recorded her first demo and a year later released an album. At 11 she was touring Southeast Asia and performing alongside Cody Simpson.
Now 13, Camryn is ready for the next stage of her career - opening for British pop phenoms One Direction on the Eurpean leg of their six-month 2013 Take Me Home world tour, which includes a July 27 performance at Rogers Arena.
The tour, with over 100 sold out shows already announced in Australia, Europe, and North America, began last weekend at London's 02 Arena.
"I really don't believe that it is happening," she says. "It is very surreal to me and it won't sink in until I am on the stage doing sound check."
The emerging pop star has had plenty of experience performing in front of massive crowds. In 2011 she toured across the U.S. with Cody Simpson and Greyson Chance as part of the Waiting 4U Tour. That summer she also performed across the Midwest with All Star Weekend. She wrapped up 2011 by going on her Back to School tour where she performed at more than 100 schools across America.
She also opened for One Direction on several U.S. dates in 2012 during their Up All Night tour giving her the opportunity to watch how they handled all the media buzz. She had a front row seat every night as One Direction became mega pop stars before her eyes.
"Opening for such a big band and such talented people is amazing, I am honoured," she says. "It's great to watch them on stage because they love what they do."
Camryn says the toughest thing about opening for One Direction, Cody Simpson and Grayson Chance is getting their fans to see past the fact that she is a girl.
"The hardest part about opening for all these boys is that I am a girl and the majority of the audience is girls," she says. "So once they see a girl walk out on stage they think who is that girl?"
She has been able to win over fans by getting them into the show early.
"I try to have fun and get everybody else to have fun and at the end of the day that is really what it is all about," she says.
The Denver native released her first single "Wait and See" in 2009 which went as high as 33 on Billboard's Top 40 in the summer of 2011.
Since then her two other singles "Set the Night on Fire" and "Now or Never" have received radio play across Europe, Canada and the United States and also attracted the attention of Ryan Seacrest and MTV.
One of the hardest adjustments she's had to make in her career was transitioning from singing songs that little girls would enjoy to songs for an older audience.
"I had a song called 'I Love Being a Girl' which is adorable for an eight-year-old . . . but for a 13-year-old to sing that song it really wasn't going to work," she says. "So we had to transition and I feel like that song ("Set the Night on Fire") set everything up for what I am doing now. Trying to figure out the perfect balance was really difficult."
"'Set the Night on Fire' was really the first song where I was breaking out of that little kid phase. It was more about having fun and being older, most of my songs before were more little kid songs," she says.
Camryn models herself after singers such as Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato Mariah Carey and especially Beyoncé.
"She can perform and she can dance and her voice is just amazing. I really look up to what she does. I saw her in concert and I was completely mesmerized by her. I would love to work with her and learn from her."
With almost nonstop touring the teen has seen her fan base increase significantly year after year. Camryn says she learned a lot about herself as a performer during the Back to School tour.
"That middle school and high school tour was so hard. I had a huge fear of playing in front of schools," she says. "Doing an eight-month tour and performing in front of schools every day of the week was definitely difficult for me."
"I've done so many shows now that at this point it's become second nature," she adds.
Camryn is homeschooled by a private teacher who travels with her when she goes out on the road. She admits that it is a challenge at times to balance her career with her education.
"It is difficult. When you're stressed out about something and wondering if something is going to go wrong you're not exactly focused on math," she says. "You have to lose some to win some. What I lose is some of my free time to do school but then I get to perform in front of people."
Although Camryn's music is in the pop genre she listens to a wide range of music.
"I am not your average teenager," she says. "What I listen to is very different than what most people have on their iPods. I have everything from One Direction to Carrie Underwood to Toby Keith to Rise Against. It gets crazy."
Most recently Camryn has been featured in POPSTAR magazine and appeared on MTV Canada.
"I've come from living in Denver, Colorado to moving to Los Angeles to now going on tour in Europe. It's been a crazy ride,"
