Female guitar prodigy to play in Newbury

AT 14, Chantel McGregor was told by major record labels that she had a ‘great voice but girls don’t play guitar like that!’

She ignored them, and went on to graduate from Leeds College of Music with a string of distinctions and a first class degree in Popular Music.

She is currently on touring the country, and will be visiting Newbury this September.

Her music covers a range of styles, so it is hard to categorise her work.

A talented guitarist, she punches a powerful blues rock as comfortably as she does an acoustic folk lament.

On guitar and vocals, she is joined by bass and drums.

“I’ve been really looking forward to this tour,” she says. “It’s good fun and great to play with other people.

“All the songs in the set are originals. “There’s everything in there: progressive guitar blues, rock, acoustic folk. And there’s a lot of improvisation too.

“When we break out of a song to play long progressive guitar riffs it can feel like you’re flying by the seat of your pants!”

How did covid and lockdown affect her?

“It was awful. I felt stifled, and it was difficult at first to connect with fans.

“But then I thought, ‘I can’t just stagnate for two years.’

Separated from other musicians, and from her fan base, Chantel decided to find a way to continue playing.

“Every Saturday I’d go to my shed, my studio in the garden.

“I’d play my music, and run a live session there each weekend.

How was it, playing alone?

“To be honest, playing to yourself in a shed, well it’s nice, but there’s just not that same interaction.

“It’s hard to keep up the banter too. “So it helped when my dad decided to come down to the shed and join in.

“He was great at all the chat, and reading out fans’ comments.

“In fact I think he’s got a new calling!”

Chantel has been performing in concerts since she was 12.

Presumably, this was at school?

“Oh no, I kept it all secret from school,” she says.

“It was quite an academic place, and you either did that or sports.

“You didn’t waste your time with music. We didn’t even have GCSE Music.

“And when I said I wanted to be a musician at careers evenings, they told me that was ridiculous and I should be an English teacher or something.”

“I said, ‘But people do have careers in music, and they get there somehow.’”

So how did Chantel make her career?

“I’m quite driven. I’ve played the guitar since I was three,” she explains.

“I started playing with my Dad, and we’d jam together. It was a hobby at first, but I started to take it more seriously in my teens.

“I was playing with adults, very good musicians, doing gigs and playing four nights a week.

“I learnt my craft doing that. Then when I went to college I put a band together.

“That’s when I started building up a fan base, and things took off.”

Who is she influenced by?

“I listen to everything.

“Country - I don’t play it, but the song writing is very creative.

“Guitar music, Steve Vai, Fleetwood Mac, Jeff Buckley.

“But not rap - that’s just not my thing.”

What song would she like audiences to take away with them from her tour? “That would be, Walk On Land.

“It has a slow build, and some funny time signatures.

“It’s a good song, filled with technical stuff.”

And how does it feel to be back? “Being on stage, the music, how it feels when you play, it’s such an adrenaline rush.

“It’s about interacting with the crowd. If my music evokes emotions in people, then that means something.”

Chantel McGregor performs at the Arlington Arts Centre, Newbury. The event takes place on Friday, September 9 at 8pm. Doors open at 7pm, and tickets cost £17.

■ For more information and to purchase tickets log on to: www. chantelmcgregor.com