About a year ago, sophomore Lindsay Jurek picked up a guitar and started playing, practicing, and strumming. Now, one year later, she’s taking the stage as the opening act for the popular and well-known country duo, The Wreckers.

It was just last summer when she uncovered her ability. With only that short amount of time to hone on her talent, she grew enough as an artist to open for the duo of Michelle Branch and Jessica Harp, on Feb. 22 at Ohio State University.

“My cousin puts shows on at the college so he got permission to let me play because they [the college] liked me; [he] said he might be able to pull some strings for me,” Jurek said.

With her connections in place, she traveled to Ohio and performed for about half an hour to an enthusiastic crowd, which she won over instantly. The reaction from the audience equaled that of established artists she was opening for.

“The crowd knew all the songs I sang and looked like they were having an awesome time,” Jurek said.

Her favorite song to perform is “Red High Heels,” which country singer Kellie Pickler made famous. However, Jurek also started writing and performing her original songs rather than just singing cover songs.

“I wanted to have my own say in music, and I had a lot of ideas. [My inspirations were] just guys or having good times [and] friends,” Jurek said.

After and during her performance, she experienced events that most singers hope to achieve at one point in their career. Jurek once again took the fast track and reached this level of success in one night in her first major performance.

“[The audience] screamed after every song, and people wanted pictures with me. They thought I was actually on tour with them,” Jurek said.

She gained adoring fans, including one far surpassing just the level of “adoring fan.”

“A guy screamed ‘Will you marry me?’” Jurek recalled.

While Jurek was quickly gaining her own fanbase, she also met some music artists that she idolized.

“It was really cool, especially [meeting] Michelle Branch, because I’m a big fan,” Jurek said.

From performing on stage to a sold-out crowd to meeting some of her idols, the experiences all added up for Jurek and made it beyond just a worthwhile experience.

“It was the best night of my life. You get more of a rush [while performing], and it’s fun entertaining people” Jurek said.

In the past, she has performed at Northwoods, DC’s Country Junction, private parties, Zuni’s, the Grind Coffeehouse, and even a fashion show. She’s already looking ahead on the next performances, while reflecting on her performance in Ohio.

“I’m doing a cancer benefit [concert] for 200 people, but [I will also play at] probably Northwoods or DC’s,” Jurek said.

Jurek said that she’d love to sing and duet with country singer Taylor Swift the most out of all singers. Swift is a 17-year-old country singer who writes her own songs and has sold over 500,000 copies of her CD.

With Jurek’s talent and way of engaging the audience with her music already paralleling that of Swift’s, it shouldn’t be long before Jurek’s achievements start paralleling Swift’s.