Over the past year Ramsey Grammar School student Erika, 19, has risen to mini-stardom thanks to YouTube videos of her covering popular hits with just her voice and a 41-string harp.
It was moving to Ballaugh that sparked the first of them, a take on Owl City’s Fireflies. What was it about her new home that inspired her?
‘I didn’t know the area, and I was bored!’ laughs Erika. ‘I wanted to do something different.’
That video has now been viewed more than 20,000 times, and has been joined by 21 others, as Erika has covered acts from Florence and the Machine to Flo Rida.
‘It’s not as common as guitar covers, for instance, and the feedback has been generally really supportive and spurred me on,’ she explains.
