The 26-year-old chose to pursue marketing on the advice of his parents after leaving high school, but hopes to “spark something” with a new covers show he’s bringing to Thirroul’s Anita’s Theatre in August.

“I’m actually not out to make a profit with this launch show, it’s purely a case of covering costs so that I can set this show up to be a long-running success,” he said. “Vegas here we come.”

The two-act piano show will be accompanied with a seven-piece band with storytelling about the songs and artists such as Billy Joel, Elton John, Ray Charles and Prince.

A strong repertoire of cover songs, he said, was essential to being a sustainable musician.

“That’s what people ... want to hear, are songs that they know. So it’s really important that you can deliver that to be a musician that can work full-time or part-time,” he said. “If I was only doing originals I would be on a very different path but I wouldn’t have any of these regular gig work and I wouldn't be as a quality performer that I am.”

He hopes to not only entertain but also give a “history lesson” of sorts.

“When you introduce a song with a bit of background people listen to it completely differently.”