It all started about 14 months ago when Rachel Gibson posted a cover of Nicki Minaj's Super Bass on YouTube.

The Maple Ridge singer, songwriter, and musician played the guitar while singing her unique rendition of Minaj's hit song. Ever since then she has become somewhat of a YouTube sensation.

Rachel, who is also known as Ray, has since posted 36 covers and six original songs. She taught herself how to play the piano and guitar.

Ray's mom, Maureen Chapman said she can play any instrument by ear.

"She has a strong creative intelligence. It's a special gift she's got," said Chapman.

"Rachel has also been taking voice lessons for the last four months with Spencer Welch Vocals," Chapman added.

Most of her cover songs on YouTube are by country music idols like Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, and Carrie Underwood, but there are a few others in the mix of musicians like Adele, Fun, and Katy Perry.

"I would post them on YouTube and people started showing them to their friends, and then they would request songs, and that is how it all started," Ray explained.

In February Brett Stair of Stairway Entertainment spotted her on the Internet.

"When I found Ray on YouTube I was so impressed with her natural ability as a singer and a musician. She is fantastic on the piano and guitar and plays both by ear," he said.

"Her tone of voice is so amazing and one that I couldn't stop listening to," admitted Stair.

She is a hard worker and driven to succeed as an artist, Stair said.

Ray has travelled to Los Angeles twice to write songs and meet with her management team. While there, she co-wrote and recorded 13 original songs.

While in L.A., and on Ray's 18th birthday a few months ago, Underwood, a former American Idol winner, posted Ray's cover of Underwood's song Good Girl.

"That was the best birthday present I ever got," she said.

Although Ray was already growing a large YouTube following, Underwood's acknowledgement of the cover gave Ray a huge boost in views.

In fact, the view count for Good Girl is more than 61,000.

Ray's cover of We are Young by Fun, which she recorded on Venice Beach, Calif., has had nearly 93,000 views.

Things are moving along quickly for the Maple Ridge Secondary graduate.

She recently had her first live performance. Ray was brought up on stage by local country singer Aaron Pritchett at River Rockin Music Fest on Aug. 10 and they closed the show singing a duet of Hold My Beer.

"After the first verse and chorus, there was an instrumental break and [Aaron] began talking about the local talent that we have, then asked if he could bring out a friend - and then I walked up the stairs and onto the stage," Ray explained.

"It's a song that you just have fun with. So I was goofing around having a blast on stage with him," she said about singing one of Pritchett's most popular songs.

Ray said she was nervous because it was her first time on stage, "but I was also really excited. Once I started singing, all the nerves were gone and I just had the time of my life," she recalled.

"The crowd was very loud and they were singing along and they made me feel really comfortable. It was definitely the best night of my life!"

"From the very first moment I heard Ray sing, I knew that she was going to be a big star," said Prichett.

Ray covered one of his songs - Coming Clean - on YouTube and then sent the link to his Twitter account.

"When I clicked on the link I was in amazement with her incredible voice," Prichett said, who added that they have become "good friends in music."

"Ray is not only going to be a big star because she can sing unbelievably, writes amazing tunes, has a great team working along side of her, but because she has a stage presence that I haven't seen in many people. It's called charisma and she is loaded with it," Prichett said.

Her manager also thinks she has a bright future in music.

"It takes a lot of talent and hard work to make it in this business. Ray has both the natural talent and the work ethic to take her to the top. I have never been around someone that loves music quite as much as Ray," Stair said.

And if the music industry doesn't work out for Ray, she can always fall back on her original plan.

"I wanted to be a cop. My dad works for Vancouver Police Department. Since I was little I wanted to be a police officer, so if this doesn't work out, I'm going to go do that," she said.

Follow Ray on Facebook and Twitter: @ raygibsonmusic.

smclaren@mrtimes.com