Idol star has bay link

SIOBHAN Magnus shot to stardom in America after finishing sixth in last year's American Idol series.

And now Hervey Bay's Rob Mackay is helping her realise her dreams of releasing her debut album.

Mr Mackay manages the Hervey Bay office of Pacific International Music.

The label also has another office in Nashville, managed by Mike Flanders.

Siobhan's manager, Tony Raine, knew Mr Flanders and felt his label would be the right one to produce the record.

Siobhan has co-written the tracks for her album with songwriters from Pacific Music International.

So far the team has produced four of the tracks and Mr Mackay said helping with the production of Siobhan's album from Hervey Bay had been a great experience.

“She's going good.”

He said the talented singer-songwriter already had a huge fan base thanks to American Idol and described her sound as “edgy and out-of-the-box”.

“She's gone on Idol and had this huge exposure,” he said.

“There's a lot of soul in it,” he said.

Pacific Music International was founded in Hervey Bay and Mr Mackay also spends a lot of time producing albums for local and national artists.

He says the experience of working with a star from American Idol has been valuable.

“She's delightful,” he said.

“She's very musical. She knows what she wants.

“She's very interested in not being too pop or too commercial.”