The Mid Devon Gazette’s newsroom was bombarded by calls from the national press after it ran an exclusive interview with teenage soul-singing sensation Joss Stone.

Her success caused something of a media frenzy in the village of Cullompton, with reporters from national newspapers and radio beating a path to the door of the family home.

She has tracks from her debut album played by Radio 1 DJ Jo Whiley, appeared on Radio 4’s Today programme and featured on the MTV news website.

The Gazette fielded calls following the paper’s interview with her last month, explaining that the singer was resting between touring the USA and Canada.

It reported how 16-year-old Jocelyn was re-branded Joss Stone when she came to the notice of the record industry after winning the BBC’s Star for a Night.

She’s now been featured widely in the music press, has her own official website and has been covered in features in the Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph, New York Times, Rolling Stone magazine and Billboard magazine.

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