At 14 years old, Park County local Jillian Nordberg has been performing for over half her life.

The teenage musician began performing at age 6 when she played at a teacher conference, and from there she began playing recitals. At 11 she taught herself to play guitar and now she regularly performs at Cassie’s. Her most recent accomplishment was singing the national anthem July 2 at the Cody Stampede Rodeo.

“It was kind of crazy for me, just something I've always wanted to do and got the chance to and had a great time doing it,” Nordberg said. 

At her young age Nordberg has an understanding of music and what it means to put on a performance. It’s her first time at the Park County Fair but her concerts will not be background music, she said. The music she plays will be louder and upbeat. A lot of the songs Nordberg will play are covers of older music — she rattled off names like Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn and Guns and Roses, as well as Zach Bryan and Carrie Underwood.

When it comes to her choice in classic music it boils down to the storylines in the songs and the message that the artist is trying to convey. 

“When you listen, there's just really good messages, I feel like in the older music, if you listen to it, it just has really good storylines and the way it sounds is just great,” Nordberg said. “So I just appreciate that kind of music.”

Nordberg writes her own music as well and an album is currently in the works.