Singer's long road to Opera House

After years of playing the Perth gig circuit, singer- songwriter guitarist Danni Stefanetti is on track to follow in the footsteps of some of Australia's best-known musicians.

The 22-year-old from Sorrento, who wrote her first song at nine, was the only West Australian artist to win a gong at last week's Musicoz Awards at the Sydney Opera House.

The awards, which recognise talented unsigned and independent artists, are a stepping stone for up-and-comers, with success stories including Bliss n Eso, Bluejuice, The Jezabels and Art vs Science.

Stefanetti, who left school at 16 to pursue a music career, took out the Christian-Spiritual song of the year with her indie-pop song Victory and performed on the Opera House stage in front of music industry players - a platform she has been dreaming of for years.

She dedicated the award to her father George, who has lugged her guitars and sound equipment around for her countless times as she embarked on tours across Australia and overseas."The organiser called me up on the Saturday night before saying they were going to fly me over," Stefanetti said.

"I rocked up to the red carpet event in my high-waisted jeans with no idea it would be televised and such a big deal.

"It was pretty cool being the only one from WA because we have a really good music industry here," she said. Stefanetti said she dreamt of the day when she would play gigs to fans who knew and loved her songs.

"I have been working away at it for ages, so it is really exciting to be getting the Sydney music scene behind me," she said.

Stefanetti has been using the internet and social media to get her music noticed, with her debut music video already being seen more than 16,000 times on YouTube.

Her latest EP, We Are The Music Makers, was produced by Tokyo producer Alan Brey.