Danni Stefanetti performing at Tamworth Country Music Festival

DANNI Stefanetti is hoping to join names such as Keith Urban and Lee Kernaghan by scoring her big break at the upcoming Tamworth Country Music Festival.

The pint-sized songbird from Sorrento is the only Perth finalist in the festival's famous Toyota Star Maker talent search.

It will be her fourth visit to the New South Wales event, but her first as a competitor.

Stefanetti, 23, said she first sang at Tamworth when she was only 12.

"I was pretty young and dorky - just a schoolkid," she said. "I made 70 copies of a home recording and sold them on the street. I'm still pretty dorky, but I've grown up and diversified my music by listening to different styles."

Stefanetti started playing music after receiving a guitar for her 10th birthday.

"I wanted to be a dancer, but the truth is I was just a terrible dancer so I gave up and took up music," she said.

She has spent the past few years travelling the world playing live gigs and soaking up different music scenes, including a 2010 stint in the spiritual home of country music - Nashville in the US.

She has been back in Perth since late 2011, playing the pub scene and even recording music for TV commercials.

The Tamworth music festival runs from January 18 to 27, with the talent quest on January 25 to be aired on Foxtel.