But this Dunedin girl has her sights set on stardom, as she makes a name for herself as one of New Zealand's most promising country singer/songwriters.
Kylie (16) cleaned up at the New Zealand Gold Guitar country music awards in Gore last weekend, claiming four intermediate titles, including best composition and best overall performance.
She has entered the Gold Guitars for the last six years, and says taking the titles this year was "the big one".
Now, she is set to show her talent at the Tamworth Country Music Festival in Australia next January.
Her two Barney dinosaur soft toys perched on her bed go everywhere with her.
"They ... [are] sort of like good-luck charms."
Kylie is fiercely driven, despite being realistic about the uncertainties of a career as a performing artist.
"I'm not going to give up. This is just the beginning," she says.
Kylie began playing guitar when she was 7. After a year of classical voice training, she made the move to country music and has not looked back.
She describes her sound as "chilled out", and admits "there aren't generally mosh pits in front of the stage" when she's performing.
The young singer of New Zealand and Filipino descent comes from a musical family.
Her mother Dioneta was a singer, her dancer sister Lana (18) plays the piano, and her uncles in the Philippines make guitars.
Kylie practises every day, "messing around and trying new stuff", often coming home from school and heading straight for her guitar.
Asked how she juggles her schoolwork with the demands of her growing music career, Kylie smiles.
"I just kind of wing it and hope for the best with my grades," she says, laughing.
She is in the middle of exam week, saying it "snuck up" on her this year, but she has the support of her teachers at Kavanagh College.
"My music teacher at school, Mrs [Marie] Ferris, just lets me practise, and she understands that it's really important to me, so I'm really lucky," she says.
That is a good thing, because the songstress is always busy, performing in musicals and talent quests around Otago.
Kylie, who is a member of the Silverpeaks Country Music Club in Mosgiel, is performing in the Regent Variety show this weekend and is rehearsing for Dunedin Operatic Society's performance of Miss Saigon. She is also practising for the Silver Peaks Showtime event planned for later this year.
To add to her busy schedule, the teen is teaching herself to play the mandolin, and is also preparing for Tamworth next January.
The 10-day country music festival offers talented hopefuls a chance to show their material to international audiences.
Kylie will perform alongside one of her role models, Australian country singer Adam Harvey.
She is focused on the year ahead, but always has the future firmly in her sights.
She plans to study performing arts at the National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Art, in Christchurch, once she has finished high school, unless, of course, her career hits the international stage.
"There's always Nashville. I'd love to try my luck in Nashville and see what happens from there."
- Dominique Fourie
