A quirky singer is brightening up town centers and festivals across the West Country with her performances on a “piano bike.” Chloe Marie Aston, 20, from Ilfracombe, began playing the piano five years ago and has been serenading shoppers ever since.
As festival season winds down, she spoke with ITV News West Country about her journey and future aspirations. “It’s such a nice job to have, to go out and play music and make people happy,” Chloe remarked, noting the strange feeling of being recognized in the South West.
Until recently, Chloe assisted at her family’s petrol station, which they owned for nearly 40 years. After her grandad sold the business in July, she decided to pursue busking full-time, planning to continue through the winter with shorter days and plenty of breaks. “I have some fingerless gloves and invested in an electric hand warmer, so I’m well prepared,” she shared.
Chloe’s piano bike wasn’t always part of her act. She started busking at 14 with a guitar, which she felt she wasn’t skilled enough at. Inspired by her father, who proposed building a piano on a bike, Chloe agreed to learn the instrument. “A lot of people think I’m selling ice cream until they see the keys and realize it’s a piano,” she laughed.
This summer, she traveled to fairs and towns across the region, from Launceston to the Melplash Show in Somerset. Influenced by artists like Norwegian singer Sigrid and British indie rock band The Last Dinner Party, Chloe hopes to make music her career, with dreams of performing at Glastonbury Festival one day.
Related Topics
- CANNIBAL CORPSE Guitarist Erik Rutan’s Florida Home Suffers ‘Catastrophic Damage’ from Hurricane Helene
- Eddie Vedder on the Guitarist Who Advanced Music: “Plays Through the Holes”
- Ross Harding Launches ‘The Blood & The Blues’ UK Tour: A New Era of Blues-Rock Awaits
