On the first day of 2015, Manon Delaney went from 15 years of crooning into a hairbrush in front of her mirror to belting out the national anthem in front of a stadium crammed with 13,500 Timberwolves fans.
“I was terrified, amazed, happy. It was a huge mix of emotions,” says Delaney, a graduating senior at Wayzata High School.
The opportunity came after her manager, Brian Reiners, whose Boy Scout troop was handling the opening flag ceremony that night, recommended her.
After sending in a video of herself singing in the kitchen, she was given the green light. Delaney wasn’t the only one excited about the chance to sing in front of a large audience, however.
“Tons of my relatives showed up, even though they don’t follow basketball. My boyfriend tweeted, ‘That in-the-candy-store-feeling when your girlfriend sings the national anthem at your favorite team’s game.’”
It’s this enthusiastic support from her family and friends that has allowed Delaney to pursue her passion for performing and singing.
“When I was little, my dad would play me ‘You Make Me Feel So Young,’ by Frank Sinatra, in the car and I would sing along,” she recalls.
It’s only been in the past couple of years, when Delaney’s family moved to Minnesota from Tennessee, that she’s started to seriously focus on her solo singing. This summer, she’s officially releasing Live Your Life, a mini-album of songs with the Savannah Street Music studio. She plans on working with producer Ben Obi whenever she returns home on break from the University of Kansas, which she’ll be attending this fall.
With talent, dedication and support from those around her, Delaney’s future seems to hold a lot less crooning into a hairbrush and a lot more singing confidently into a microphone.
