Single Review - How Long Have You Known - Kezia Gill and Jade Helliwell

 

As a fan of the UK Country music scene, you will surely have come across Kezia Gill and Jade Helliwell – be it on their own headline tours, their joint “Girls Night In” tour or perhaps at one of the various festivals around the UK.  Both have their own loyal followings, built in part during lockdown with livestreams – which spawned the “Friday Night Club” for Kezia.  Lockdown (can we talk about that as just history now?) also led to remote songwriting sessions for many – and especially for two best friends.

The outcome of one of these sessions – and only the second time of collaborating this way for Kezia – was the song How Long Have You Known.  Now three years on from its creation and after performing it together live on many occasions the pair have now recorded it for release on Friday 31 May.

Written about the shock of finding out your partner is leaving, the song and the performance are emotion laden, reflecting that bolt from the blue feeling

Didn’t see it coming, didn’t think you’d break my heart

Accompanying the two powerful vocal performances is a beautiful string arrangement which blends perfectly and highlights the soulful delivery and feel of the song.

As well as being able to now download or stream the song, you’ll have the chance to hear both of these artists live later this year, as Jade takes to the road in October for her How Love Goes acoustic tour while Kezia will be touring in October and November with her The Story So Far tour.  Tickets for both are available now and selling fast!

 

 

How Long Have You Known, 

the new song from Kezia Gill and Jade Helliwell is available on all platforms from Friday 31 May

 

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Gig Review - Girls Night In The Round - Birmingham Symphony Hall

I’m not sure that I’ve ever been to a show that opens with all four performers strutting/dancing on to the stage to the sound of Shania Twain singing “Lets Go Girls”, opening and pouring  the wine and then taking their seats – but then again, I’ve never been to Girls Night In…The Round before!

If you are yet to see this show, let me set the scene a little.  Its four of the very best female singers from the UK Country Music scene in a songwriters round…but fuelled by Jamshed wine (legitimately - they are sponsors!).  Once in their seats the four introduce the show by singing their own theme song, taking a line each and ending with a beautiful harmony.

The four are (in the order they were sitting) Kezia Gill, Jess Thristan, Demi Marriner and Jade Helliwell who are all friends away from the stage – in fact the tour was apparently conceived in a hot tub session.

As is fitting for such a night, there was a lot of sparkles on stage, with a special mention made for Jess Thristan’s jacket, although the comments were also slightly envious from the others!

 

In many ways, this show is not about music.  Well, it is, but it’s not just about the music!  The interactions, the jokes, the stories (a fight at the Glasgow date last tour) and the very obvious closenesss of the friendship all make this quite a unique tour.  It also adds to the flow of the performances – when Jess started a song and was advised politely, and then lovingly but less politely, by the others that she need to tune her guitar, there was no awkward silence as often happens.

The rounds are grouped by themes/titles (which is a great idea!) – including introductions, co-writes (Jade has co-written with all three!), Cry in your Wine and notably the Unreleased Round where each artist sings a song that is so far unheard, and these songs will change from venue to venue – accompanied by a plea to not put any videos on social media, making it an intimate treat for each audience.

In all there were 6 rounds with a short interval with the first half rounded off by an absolute showstopper How Long Have You Known and the recent single Jolene which we reviewed here.

It would be almost impossible to properly describe all the humour, situational jokes (Jade and her eyelashes), music choices and stories – and I wouldn’t want to spoil the fun if you are seeing the tour this week.

Suffice to say the show gives an insight into what it might be like to be on a night out – or a night in – with Kezia, Jess, Demi and Jade, and you can make your own mind up about who might be the ringleader of any shenanigans.  It also showcases the writing and performance skills of all four.

 

Girls Night In The Round is on tour all this week until Saturday 17 February taking in Liverpool, Glasgow, Gateshead and Leeds.

Tickets are available via Ticketmaster or direct from the venues

 

Although it was a girls night, we can’t forget to mention the input from Lloyd and Luke, husband and husband to be respectively of Kezia and Jade.

 

Silverball Country attended Girls Night In The Round in Birmingham’s Symphony Hall as guests of Zimagined Artist Management and UK Country Live

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Single Review - Jolene - Jess Thristan

 

We all know her. Flaming locks of auburn hair with ivory skin and eyes of emerald green – that  man stealing hussy.

We all know the song, we can all sing it word for word. 

It's a well-known song about a well-known story. The man has his head turned, his wife doesn't want to lose him. She's not afraid to admit she's begging.

It’s an absolute staple for country fans and non-country fans alike, it’s a karaoke classic, a guaranteed party singalong.

It has also been covered, by Mindy Smith, The White Stripes, Strawberry Switchblade, Olivia Newton John, Me First and the Gimmee Gimmees, Dolly’s Goddaughter Miley Cyrus – there’s even a dance remix!  In the 78 versions, there’s a Dolly Parton cover – in collaboration with Pentatonix.

To record not just a cover but an interpretation takes some guts - even with three of your friends backing you up.

Jess Thristan has taken on the challenge, and having assembled her girls – Kezia Gill, Jade Helliwell and Demi Marriner - as her back up she has released a new imagining of the classic Jolene.

The delivery of this version is faultless, with all four voices combining in near perfect harmonies, with the tempo slowed right down, and an almost ethereal quality to the sound.

Rather than the begging of the original, this feels like defeat. He’s gone, she’s taken him from you – its over.

Down but not out, this new single has allowed Jess and the three singers to show off a level of inventiveness and skill that perhaps they don’t always get to do.  You can witness more of this as the quartet are taking their popular “Girls Night In The Round” back out on tour in February with dates in London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Glasgow, Gateshead and Leeds.  Tickets are available now, and are sure to sell very quickly!

Jolene, the new single from Jess Thristan is available to download and stream from Friday 2 February

You can find Jess on Instagram and Facebook, and follow her on Spotify

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Gig Review - Kezia Gill - O2 Institute Birmingham

Kezia Gill has her name in lights!  The Misfit tour rolled in to the O2 Institute in Birmingham on Friday night for the seventh of eight nights on the tour. The tour started on her birthday, and the party hasn’t stopped since.

 

Opening for Kezia was Sinead Burgess – an Australian who comes to us via Nashville.  Sinead has been having the time of her life travelling around the UK with the band, and Friday was extra special as it was also release day for her latest single Ain’t Thinking About You.  Sinead’s music and songwriting is very emotive and suits the UK audience, her performance is reminiscent of artists such as Sheryl Crow, whose songs and storytelling always connected well.

 

The stage lights dimmed apart from the bright green neon sign proclaiming Kezia’s name.  The Misfit Tour opened – of course – with the title song.  Full of energy Kezia was a shimmering star in the green whirl of the stage.  Even though it’s a new album, the packed room were word perfect for every song.

 

Kezia doesn’t just share her music; she loves to bring you into her world.  You have to love the honesty that comes out when Kezia introduces her songs.  All the fans will forever be grateful to the Jack Daniels night in Oxford and the songs it produced.  Whilst we wish we could hear the “horrendous ones”, in Kezia’s words we will settle for what we got.  This story was the setting for Kezia to perform solo – “just me and you” as she puts it. 

Kezia says, “it wouldn’t be a Kezia Gill tour without a little cry”, but as she is a party girl at heart, she compressed them all into a little segment.  Kezia suggested that “You will cry during, but you’ll have has a good time” works just as well for describing her shows and for a Tinder profile!

Kezia blends country, with a bit of blues, some rock and some fabulous traditional storytelling, with some of her songs being very personal – House On The Hill describing that one place she loves the most, despite visiting fabulous locations there’s nothing better than putting your slippers on at home, and we heard a superb segue of Price of Loving You into the song for her father Local Man’s Star.

The setlist was mainly the new album, but some songs had to be included – Country Song (written in Nashville about Nashville) and Thirties both drawing an excited reaction from the crowd, for whom these are firm favourites.  At times a brief story is all it takes to guess what’s coming!

Kezia is a very warm, personable performer.  Her acknowledgements of not just the band (Luke Thomas, Luke Barrett, Phil Donnelly, Cristiano Pochesci) but her wider team (Sound Engineer Ian Clarke, Manager Donna Zanetti, opening artist Sinead) are heartfelt and always end up with her “Best friend, Husband and Tour Manager Lloydy”.

Every show must come to an end, but no fake encores for Kezia.  She announced her last song, forgoing the pantomime of leaving the stage only to come back on.  Although she now has quite a back catalogue to choose from, there could only be one song as the finale for the Whisky Drinking Woman - who was born a Misfit.

Silverball Country attended the Misfit Tour as guests of ZimagineD Artist Management

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Single Review - House On The Hill - Kezia Gill

 

 

After many years in the business, awards, hit records and her position within UK Country music you might think that Kezia Gill can relax and take things easy, but what she actually does is keep on growing and developing into an even better version of herself.  However success can be measured – appearances at Country 2 Country, a sold out headline tour, a show on Radio 2 – there is still more out there for Kezia, and it is all certainly well deserved.

 

With her latest single release – House On The Hill – Kezia acknowledges many of the things that she has achieved -  travelling the world, seeing amazing sights, but at heart she is still a hometown girl.  This who know her personally know that the hometown is Derby and her anchor is husband Lloyd.  If you don’t know her personally, the song actually spells it out for you.  The House On The Hill in the title is literally the home she shares with Lloyd nestled on a hilltop in Derby.  Throughout lockdown, Kezia (and Lloyd) regularly live-streamed from the living room, often in her fluffy slippers, showing that even when performing, home is where she feels most comfortable.  Even if you’ve never seen it you can start to picture it, not just physically but as a safe haven, a place to come back to as an escape from the hectic world of music and growing success.  Even those of us who aren’t rising through the ranks of Country music can identify with having our own space to go back to, our very own House On The Hill.

 

The song itself shows how much Kezia is constantly growing.  If you take a walk through her back catalogue you will hear her very distinctive style and her UK take on the Country music tradition, with this and some of her more recent music you can hear how she is embracing the Nashville sound that is so popular in the UK but still very definitely making it her own, still keeping it UK and keeping it Kezia Gill

Guitar driven, the track effortlessly combines the energy that you see on stage with the song-writing and vocal that Kezia is known for. 

Written for the sheer joy of it, and incorporating some real honesty, House On The Hill is sure to be a live favourite as we head into the festival season.

 

House On The Hill, the new single from Kezia Gill is available from Friday 31 March.

 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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Single Review - Whiskey Over Ice - Kezia Gill

 

When you think about Country Music, you often think about Whiskey, when you think about Kezia Gill you will think about Whiskey and let’s be honest, in the when you mention UK Country Music you think about Kezia Gill.

 

This is not us casting any shade of Kezia and her drinking habits!  Having previously released a single “Whiskey Drinking Woman” and naming her very popular livestream sessions “Pour Me A Strong One”, even the most casual of fan is aware that Kezia is partial to a whiskey (with lemonade!) and so it is no great surprise that this latest single is Whiskey Over Ice. 

 

The song was debuted on the recent headline tour, and when introducing it, Kezia said

Write about what you know, and if it ain’t broke…

 

Some people will have heard Kezia playing at one of the UK’s country festivals, others when she supported The Shires on tour, still others from the club scene in Derby while Bob Harris’ country show on Radio 2 may have been the first time.  Perhaps this single will be the first introduction to the music of this award-winning singer songwriter.  However you have found Kezia you will have heard her touching lyric writing, powerful performance style and her distinctive voice, all of which are evident in this new single

 

Drums, guitar, slow beat and we are under way with Kezia’s vocal.  Heavily US influenced but with a definite UK sound the song sits firmly in the Country genre, with a rock edge to both the instrumentation and the performance. That edge and the power demonstrate why Kezia is such a favourite when she takes to the stage for a live show. 

Cleverly using drinks analogies to describe the excitement of a new relationship, the writing is pure Country, and the guitar from Luke Thomas really cements the feel – it is rare for a UK song to sound so much like it has come direct from a Nashville writing room, or perhaps a Nashville bar! The production was tweaked in Music City, but the song undoubtedly already sounded Nashville before being sent there for a final polish.

 

We will certainly join this “Whiskey Drinking Woman” for some Whiskey Over Ice – both through this song plus her upcoming live performances with the Girls Night In – The Round Tour, an appearance with the Honky Tonk Roadshow plus appearing in both Glasgow and London for Country 2 Country!

 

Whisky Over Ice, the new single from Kezia Gill is available to download or stream from Friday 3 February.

 

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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Gig Review - Kezia Gill - Hare and Hounds Birmingham

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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Gig Review - The Shires at Birmingham Symphony Hall w/ Kezia Gill and Eric Paslay

 

On Tuesday night The Shires brought their UK tour to Birmingham, and for one night only we built our own Nashville in the grand surroundings of the Symphony Hall.  The audience weren’t quite the Cowboys and Cowgirls that we see when American Artists are in town, it was a more mature crowd, with more reading glasses on heads than Stetsons.

 

We were thrilled to be attending as guests of B:Music who run the Symphony Hall and excited to see the Shires again, having last seen them perform their acoustic set at Buckle and Boots last year – but we were equally looking forward to seeing the opening artist. 

 

Kezia Gill has been on tour with Chrissie and Ben for what seems like months, travelling up and down the UK on the tour bus with her trusty hot water bottle!  Being a Derby girl, Birmingham was almost a home town gig for her  being “just down the road” and when she introduced herself to the audience she was pleased that finally she had a crowd who might understand her! Kezia also mentioned that she had in fact played the Symphony Hall before, albeit to an empty auditorium for a lockdown livestream.  We only had 20 minutes of Kezia but she filled her time superbly with Silverball Country’s favourite songs and stories.  Opening with Country Song from her Mess I Made ep, she followed it up with Local Man’s Star which brought the room to silence, dedicating her performance to her late father with a look heavenwards as she finished.  Moving on to Thirties, Kezia introduced the song with almost a monologue about growing old demonstrating how at ease she is with a crowd, winning them over and entertaining them.  With all her songs written from her real life, Kezia told us after the show that this makes it easy to talk about each track before singing it.  I’m Here, then a great choice of final song in Whiskey Drinking Woman to finish her all too brief set; thrilling the crowd by holding the last note. She left stage to great applause and a lengthy interval queue at her merch stand.

 

Eric Paslay was the second of the support acts.  A very accomplished song writer, Eric has quite a pedigree with songs he has written for other people which he dotted into his set along with a U2 cover and – surprisingly – a country take on Dua Lipa.  Perhaps more of a writer than performer, Eric is also more of a singer than talker, although he did loosen up as time went on.  The audience warmed to him and were more than happy to hold up their phone to recreate the memory of his friends best ever gig back at JFK stadium with 50,00-60,000 lighters back in the day. His best quote was probably about Nashville – where most residents are not Nashville natives but people who have made their way there – “We’re all just crazy dreamers” those born and raised are unicorns. Asking where members of the crowd were from, he spotted a few local unicorns but become unstuck with the pronunciation of Stourbridge. He declared he would like to visit the exotic take on Tower Bridge, but we fear he may be disappointed.

 

After the interval it was time for what everyone had been waiting for – and had been waiting for longer because of the enforced delay to the full tour.  The band walked on to a pounding beat, Chrissy and Ben walked on and the crowd rose to their feet - in fact Ben asked them to rise and directed the standing/sitting throughout the night. The Shires are the anointed representatives of UK Country Music with their brand commercial, pop influenced country music.  They clearly share a passion for the genre, having teamed up ten years ago when Chrissy answered a Facebook ad for a female country singer.  They have gone from strength to strength since those days, as witnessed by a near sold out 2,500 seat hall in Birmingham, and fans who sang along, clapped and danced when instructed to for A Thousand Hallelujahs!  Despite being pregnant – with twins! – Chrissy didn’t falter and didn’t make use of the seat on stage, although she did confess that trainers have now replaced heels with her stage outfit.  Daddy’s Little Girl drew tears, I See Stars had the auditorium lit up with mobile phones and Nashville Grey Skies was sung by pretty much every voice in the crowd.

 

It was great to see a UK Country act performing in a big venue, and also great that one of the support acts was one of our own.  Being in the Midlands if only for a day, Kezia was able to spend some time with husband Lloyd which possibly prompted her final comment to us

“It's a mix of wanting to go home and have a home cooked meal - and never wanting the tour to end”

 

We hope that both Kezia and the Shires enjoy the last 5 dates of the tour – as will anyone who has tickets for the last shows.

 

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