Oyster Bay preteen singer is someone to watch

Charlie Dane sees other preteen singers like Greyson Chance and Lady Gaga protege Maria Aragon and thinks about how that could be her.

"I think it's awesome," the Oyster Bay 12-year-old singer-songwriter says. "It's great that kids get to express themselves, instead of adults doing it."

Charlie's current single, "All I Know," is even about the relationship between kids and parents. ("I wrote it about asking my parents a lot of questions and then they get really annoyed because I keep asking them one question after another and they don't really know the answers," she says.)

The seventh grader at Oyster Bay High School says she tries to write songs that have a broad appeal. "I try to keep them real general so everyone can relate to it," says Charlie, who says she looks up to Lady Gaga, The Beatles and Taylor Swift, whom she says she is compared to a lot.

She will get her chance to reach Swift-level music industry execs Friday in Austin when she plays the Invasion of the GoGirls Showcase at the South by Southwest Music Conference.

Her mother, Pattie Lublin, says she doesn't normally submit Charlie's music for industry showcases, but the GoGirls Showcase, which also includes Melissa Ferrick and Rachael Sage, seemed like a good fit. "It was really focused on female acts and it seemed like it was really up Charlie's alley," Lublin says. "We were thrilled when she got accepted."

"I've never been to Texas before, so I'm excited," Charlie adds.

Charlie Dane's SXSW showcase will be webcast at 3:30 p.m. Friday at ustream.tv/channel/gogirlsmusic. She plays the Westfield South Shore Mall, 1701 Sunrise Hwy., Bay Shore at 2 p.m. next Sunday.

Contact The Long Island Sound at glenn.gamboa@newsday.com or follow@ndmusic on Twitter.