14-year-old singer is a role model for peers

At 14, Taylor Vaifanua might be considered awfully young to be a role model. But she follows her own motto: "Pursue your dreams and make a difference."

Taylor has already released a debut album, "Timeless," which is distributed by Deseret Book. And in addition to performances at the Utah State Fair, she is making appearances at high schools and middle schools throughout Spanish Fork, American Fork and her hometown, Hurricane.

Taylor says she tries to promote good things with her peers, such as encouraging kids to say in school and earn good grades.

Vaifanua got an early start. Like many children, she enjoyed singing during her preschool years. But when she was 2, the family moved to Samoa for about five years, where she gained a particular appreciation for music. "In Samoa, there wasn't a lot of stuff to do, so they would pretend they were a little girl band," said her mother, Angie Vaifanua.

When the family returned to Hurricane, Taylor said she and her friends would go down to the local studio and make fake demos. "We'd get background from karaoke-machine places, and then we'd just record them in studio. Then we'd give them out to the town because everyone would hear about it and say 'We want one.'

"Everyone would always tell me I should make my own album and do my own songs."

So when she was 13, she did just that. Angie said the album's producer, Felicia Sorensen-Wolfe, helped them find the music. "They were already written and already recorded as demos to show artists what they were going to be like or sound like," said Taylor. "We just kind of went through a whole bunch and chose our favorite 10."

The songs, she said, were mostly written by Christian writers out of Atlanta or Nashville, although they're not religious songs, per se. "They're just good songs that have good lyrics and good message. It's kind if inspirational, but hip-hop and pop at the same time."

Now that the album is released and she has a music video to go with it, she's already working on her next recording project, a single. She says she's already performing it in shows but hasn't gone into the studio with it yet.

Taylor says she's the only singer out of the five children in her family. And when she's not singing, she can be found at a volleyball court (which is where she was -- following a game -- when she did this telephone interview) or a basketball court, where she has attained MVP status.

More information about Taylor Vaifanua can be found at www.taylorvaifanua.com.

E-mail: rcline@desnews.com

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