Kezia Gill has done many,
many things in her long singing career – from festivals to supporting national
tours and even appearing on TV whilst picking up awards and accolades alone the
way but she has never had a headline tour.
Until now.
Kezia and her team are
currently driving all over the UK on a tour that kicked off with a hometown gig
in Derby and will take in Leeds, Birmingham, Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester,
London the South Coast, the South West and even Dublin – with almost every
venue sold out!
We were fortunate enough to
be invited to day three of the tour when Kezia rolled into Birmingham, and the
legendary music venue The Hare and Hounds.
Upstairs in the intimate
room 2 we were first greeted by the support act for the whole tour – all the
way from America Brian Collins with his wingman Rockwell Jacobs. Both have quite the pedigree in Country Music
but lack a UK profile. After listening
to them perform with superb guitar playing and perfect harmonies there is no
doubt that this tour will bring them a whole new appreciative audience. In conversation afterwards, Georgia native
Brian told us that he likes to mix up the set list every night, reading the
crowd and also conscious that he is just preparing the crowd for Kezia. In Birmingham we were treated to quite the
mellow set, every song telling its own story, with Brian focussing on the music
and letting his songs speak for him.
We are all very accustomed
to Kezia’s very humble style, so her entrance was an absolute revelation! With a track of her songs playing and smoke
on stage Kezia arrived in the room with almost the flair of a WWE wrestler –
although also in Kezia style she did her own introduction!
In truth though, Kezia needs
no introduction. Proud of her beginnings
as a pub singer - “I’ve spent a lot of
time singing to drunk people” any time you see Kezia perform live it is like
being with a group of friends, in effect an extension of her Friday Night
sessions from her living room – although the staging and production qualities
are rather a step up from her sofa and fluffy slippers! Just as at ease on this stage as she is on
her famous sofa, or a festival marquee Kezia truly belted out her songs. The
sound was perfect, the lighting bright and the crowd appreciative. There’s quite a back catalogue now to choose
from so the set list was
“Songs I love playing. Songs I love sharing with you”
Notable was her next single
– Whisky over Ice (another song about Whisky?
“Write about what you know, and if it ain’t broke…” was the
explanation!), playing her father’s 12 string guitar and dedicating Girl Of
Your Dreams to ever
present husband
Lloyd.
The room went quiet for current
single Like I Did Before, sang along to I’m Here, reflected on Local
Man’s Star and rocked out to Thirties.
All too soon we reached the
end – what to sing as an encore? Unusually
the choice was a cover, with Brian and Rockwell joining the band on stage for a
wonderful rendition of With a Little Help From My Friends – and yes
Kezia, we certainly felt that we were in a room full of friends!
For Kezia though it is no
longer a case of simply playing gigs to an already appreciative audience. An accomplished musician and performer in her
own right, she has honed her craft for many years, and along the way, everywhere
she goes she gains new folowers, working hard to do so. From the club scene in her hometown of Derby,
to playing in Tenerife before getting her UK Country break playing at Buckle
and Boots festival, you can see that Kezia’s career is on the way up. Recently Kezia opened for UK act The Shires
on their UK tour, no doubt converting some of their fans to become her fans
too. With her single releases becoming a
regular fixture on Radio 2s country show and a recent cameo on BBC TVs “I Can
See Your Voice” Kezia is starting to be more and more seen by the wider country
scene as well as a whole new audience.
If you are seeing or hearing
Kezia for the first time, you can expect a powerful, polished performance from
first song to last note with songs written from her heart and her personal
experiences. Even if you can’t sing
along just yet, if you pick up her previous releases from the merch stand you
will be entertained and start to see her journey through songs written in a
true storytelling tradition. For this
tour Kezia has assembled a band made up of some of the finest live musicians on
the scene - Luke Thomas
on guitar, Phil Donnelly
on bass and Luke Barrett on drums. The quality
of this band – who don’t play for just anyone – is testament to Kezia’s own
skills on both guitar and keyboard.
From pubs and clubs to a
headline tour – Kezia just continues to grow with every new song and every new
experience. Clearly this tour was the
tour of her dreams – and without doubt her next headline tour will be bigger
and better – but it will still feel like a comfortable night with a very
talented friend, even if it is your first time seeing her play!
You can find and follow Kezia on Instagram and Facebook and stream her music on Spotify
Kezia Gill is represented by ZimagineD
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