BRIAN BEACOM meets one young hopeful who hopes to make it big in the States

FRANCES McCANN can't believe she's not dreaming. One minute the 19-year-old from Bishopbriggs is walking out of theatre school into the career unknown, the next she's lined up for a coast-to-coast American tour, a television appearance and a CD recording.

"It's all quite incredible," says Frances, excitedly.

"My friends can't take it all in. I'm going to have to sit them down and explain to them that in three months time I'll be singing on stage in Florida or New York. They don't understand how it's all happened."

It's easy to explain. Frances, who attended the Glasgow Academy of Musical Theatre and Arts, is set to join the cast of Highland Heartbeat, a show that mixes traditional and contemporary Scottish music and is set to tour the States.

The concept was developed by singer and television presenter Fiona Kennedy and her sister Morven, daughters of the late singers Calum and Anne Kennedy.

"Highland Heartbeat was an idea which came from the PBS television station in the States," says Fiona.

"I had made several programmes for them over the years but then they said they liked the idea of a music programme coming out of Scotland.

"PBS likes to reflect global cultures, and they have Irish or Mexican shows running, so why not something Scottish?

"Well, this glimmer of an idea got me thinking. And I realised that there is a huge demand for Scottish nostalgia in America, and other parts of the world. It would be crazy to ignore this opportunity."

Fiona began casting her net looking for talent. And she was perfectly placed to go through this process given the fact she's been at the forefront of the Scottish music scene since she was just out of nappies.

After putting together the TV show for PBS, Fiona came up with the idea of doing a touring show "I wanted to give young people the chance to show they could perform at the highest level," she says.

After 18 months of auditioning, planning, and rehearsing, Frances was chosen as one of the six touring performers.

Highland Heartbeat will run in Inverness for five days in July before embarking on a coast-coast-tour of the States in September.

Fiona and Frances will team up with Jillian Isbister from Shetland, Darren Maclean from Skye, Ross Davidson from Aberdeen, and Maureen McMullan from Coatbridge, but currently on a music scholarship at Berklee College in America.

"I've never even been to America before," says Frances, who has four older sisters and a younger brother and whose mum is from Hong Kong.

"This will be my first time and I'm so excited about seeing New York."

Fiona was anxious to avoid tartan kitsch. She didn't want to create a TV or stage show that could have been lifted from the top of a Highland shortbread tin.

"We wanted to find a young cast who could perform traditional music and some of Burns' classics but also play new compositions by the likes of Phil Cunningham and Dougie McLean or Gallagher and Lyle and KT Tunstall. We want to show that great Scottish music comes in varied forms."

Highland Heartbeat's Stateside opening will take place in Des Moines, Iowa, a town largely made up of Hungarian and German immigrants.

It doesn't matter if the show isn't just playing to traditional Scots emigration hotspots.

"The show has got such a great entertainment appeal that people will want to come and see it," says Fiona. In fact, it could go on to tour Australia or New Zealand."

Frances isn't quite thinking that far ahead.

"I'm thinking about New York," she says. "I'll be going there soon. How fantastic is that?"