78 Lashings of talent

Alex de Vos
Performers traditionally picture the audience in their underwear to help tackle stage fright.
But pint-sized singer Sheridan Harvey pretends her audiences are pieces of fruit.
“When I look out all I see are peaches, peaches, peaches or apples, apples, apples,” Sheridan giggles.
“If I do that I don’t really get nervous.”
The imagery seems appropriate for a nine-year-old who still laughs at the word underwear.
Sheridan and 11-year-old sister Lauren are Lash78, a dynamic duo from Geelong taking the country music world by storm.
On the surface the girls appear confident, well spoken and answer the Independents’ questions with ease.
But as the interview unfolds, their media front fades, exposing the children within.
Sheridan and Lauren burst into uncontrollable fits of laughter at nothing in particular, fight with their siblings and interrupt each other’s conversations. Just like any typical kids.
But when they open their mouths to sing at their father’s request, it’s a different tune.
Sheridan and Lauren are naturals. Their powerful voices and foot-tapping rhythms sound like they’ve developed over a lifetime of performing instead of just three years.
Sheridan and Lauren formed Lash78 when they were seven and eight respectively.
“I got a little pink sequin top from my grandparents one year and then a karaoke machine for my birthday and I started singing around the house,” Lauren recalls.
“I used to listen to Britney Spears and sing her songs – she was my favourite.”
The girls have come along way since their early home performances.
In 2006 Lash78 supported Lee Kernaghan at his sell-out Outback to Beaches tour show in Geelong.
After the success of the Geelong show, Kernaghan added Lash78 to his Bicentennial Park gig at Tamworth in 2007.
The girls later supported Kernaghan during his Spirit of the Bush drought relief concert at Horsham in front of 25,000 country music fans.
“It was just fantastic,” Lauren shrieks.
“Lee Kernaghan is one of my musical idols.”
But the girls haven’t always been fans of country music.
“The first time I went to Tamworth I said ‘Oh, come on, I don’t want to go there, it’s going to be so boring’,” Sheridan admits.
“But I went there and it was a whole different world – I loved it.
“You hear all this stuff about rock but country music is a way of life.”
Most kids would be green with envy of the girls’ success and minor celebrity status.
Instead, Lauren says their schoolmates were supportive and enjoyed their music.
“I know one of my friends, Emma, loves coming to my shows,” Lauren says.
“She would just die if she didn’t get to go to a show.”
But Lauren admits performing isn’t always fun and games.
“We have singing lessons and guitar lessons,” Lauren confesses.
“It’s a lot of hard work.”
The girls have also dabbled in acting during their short careers. Sheridan features in Australian film Dying Breed, set for release this month
Father and manager Tim Harvey says pre-release reviews earned Sheridan “huge reviews”, and landed her the part of Little Red in another feature film to be shot in the coming months.
Both girls have also featured in television commercials.
Off stage, the duo enjoys swimming and sport.
“I love swimming,” Lauren squeals.
“And I love jumping on the trampoline.”