It famously worked for Sandie Shaw in the 1960s. Now, 50 years on, Rachel-Ann Stroud - Dorset’s home-grown barefoot pop princess - is hoping slipping off her shoes will work the same magic for her.
Rachel-Ann shot to fame last year after beating 9,000 rivals to win the national talent show, TeenStar. She then went on to star in BBC’s The Voice, on which she was mentored by Kaiser Chiefs’ front man Ricky Wilson, who praised her unique brand of Indie folk.
“The Voice was such an amazing platform,” she says. “I’m so grateful. Now, I’m working on my first album. It’s incredible.”
Rachel-Ann, 17, still lives at home with her parents in Wallisdown, where she has transformed their living room into a recording studio: a piano, a sound desk, a computer and a PA system.
Not that her mother Sue minds. She says: “We are her parents and we have always believed in her. I can listen to her sing for hours.”
A nature-loving vegan, Rachel-Ann says that - whatever the future holds - she has no plans to leave Dorset: “I prefer the quieter atmosphere here.”
And that explains her trademark style. “I stopped wearing shoes for good last year,” she says. “Now I don’t wear anything on my feet unless it snows.”
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