A MUM and daughter duo from West Kirby will sing in front of Sir Tom Jones, Anne-Marie, will.i.am, and Olly Murs in an audition for ITV's The Voice tonight (Saturday, December 9).

Mum Jo Pue Richards and daughter Ava make up The Skylarks.

Jo, a musician, has spent her life playing the violin and teaching music to children in the community. She runs a group called Melody Makers which is based in Hoylake.

During lockdown, Jo taught Ava the violin and the pair would go out onto the street to entertain the neighbours and in 2021 they performed at their first-ever gig in Liverpool.

Speaking to the Globe, Jo said: "Our love for music has all stemmed from when Ava was born.

"I've done lots of little concerts in the community with the kids and I run violin workshops."

Ava added: "My mum is dead inspiring as she was a musician when I was younger.

"I knew I wanted to pursue music in school. I was part of the choir and I played the violin from a young age.

"We just knew our harmonies were really special because of our family blend and as a duo, we've just been growing and getting stronger."

Auditioning for The Voice

Today at 8pm (Saturday, December 9) The Skylarks will be auditioning on ITV's The Voice, which sees singers begin their audition with the coaches turned away.

If any of the four judges like what they hear, they hit a button, spin around and reveal the face behind the voice.

The audition will see Jo play the violin and Ava play the guitar, while singing together.

Jo added: "When we were doing our gigs lots of people said we needed to build our platform.

"We knew we really enjoyed doing the gigs but we wanted to take it to the next level and we thought it would be really fun to do it.

"When I was younger I always wanted to do something like The Voice but I never had the confidence.

"Gigging together has given us that confidence and strength and I wanted to give Ava that idea that you can go for it."

After announcing that they would be appearing on the show, the pair have said all of their family and friends have been "so supportive".

A 'once-in-a-lifetime' opportunity

"Mum is a good anchor for me and we would never have been able to do it on our own", Ava said.

"We have a real mother-daughter blend", Jo said.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and something you aspire to do, but actually getting the chance is a dream come true.

"Everyone is just so excited and it's shocked so many people. We're really buzzing."

You can watch the episode on ITV from 8pm.