Kezia Gill, a singer-songwriter hailing from Derby, England, was born into a large musical family of Irish descent. Her father, Eddie Gill, a professional musician for over 50 years, was her greatest influence, introducing her to performing, writing, and a vast array of musical genres. This rich musical upbringing led Kezia to develop a unique sound that blends folk, Irish, country, rock, and blues elements. She began her professional singing career over 15 years ago, performing across the UK and internationally, including stints in Europe, Australia, and America.
In 2018, Kezia released her self-titled debut album, which garnered significant attention and led to her winning the Female Vocalist of the Year at the CCN Awards. Her subsequent releases, ‘Dead Ends & Detours' (2019), ‘Best Worst Year' (2020), ‘The Mess I Made' (2021), and ‘Misfit' (2023) showcased her evolving artistry. ‘The Mess I Made' earned her the Album of the Year at the British Country Music Awards, where she also received accolades for Entertainer of the Year and Song of the Year for ‘I'm Here'. Kezia's dynamic stage presence and powerful vocals have led to performances at renowned venues such as The Ryman Auditorium and The Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, as well as supporting acts like The Shires and Tony Hadley on their UK tours. Her music has received regular airplay on BBC Radio 2, further cementing her status in the UK country music scene but it was her positioning on the bill of this year's C2C festival in London that provided her with the springboard to the kind of success that she's been dreaming off all her life.
In every artist's career there comes a moment or a show that becomes a defining moment that the Netflix documentary team of the future can use to pinpoint just when it was that said artist really exploded. For Kezia Gill it was her afternoon show inside the O2 arena at the Indigo stage. When writers like myself pontificate on what the best and most iconic, impactful and engaging shows have been at the C2C festival on the Radio 2 stage down through the eras there are immediately two that spring to mind: the first being Ashley McBryde's debut UK performance at the festival in 2018 and Drake Milligan's romp of a show from a couple of years ago. Today, Kezia Gill played a show worthy of being in and amongst those hallowed sets.
Opening with the powerful new title track to her upcoming album, ‘Dublin's Outta Whiskey,' Kezia Gill grabbed this opportunity by the scruff of its neck and just refused to let go. Rocking out in a glittery diamond body suit, Gill stalked, prowled and covered every inch of the stage as she powered her way through an unfamiliar song that soon felt like something you'd been singing all your life.
‘Misfit,' ‘Whiskey Over Ice' and ‘Country Song' all came and went in a flash as Gill stomped her way through a performance evoking images of a young Tina Turner in her heyday, criss-crossing the stage with fierce and focused intent. The performance that Gill gave today felt like she was straining at the leash as she sang with power, moved with purpose and gave everything that she had as though her very life depended upon it.
Stopping to talk to the crowd about the inspirations behind ‘Country Song,' her husband and how the song was birthed at an earlier incarnation of the very festival that she was now dominating was both clever and heartfelt, endearing Gill to an already welcoming and supportive crowd. Before ‘Live It Up,' she exclaimed, “I'm having a great time – keep dreaming folks and live it up!' This wasn't the last time that Gill expressed how grateful she was to be up on stage at the C2C festival and that type of earnest vulnerability was both heartwarming and real – cutting through any Nashville bullshit that people in the crowd might have heard at different sets throughout the day up until this point.
Kezia Gill is a real and authentic artist in an industry predicated on smoke and mirrors and I think that's what makes her so appealing – that and the fact that she leaves everything that she has out on the stage each night. ‘Live It Up' was performed with a kind of gusto that seemingly felt like it it might well have been the last song that Kezia Gill would ever perform, which is a kind of grandiose ‘Jim Steinman-esque' kind of hyperbole that seems odd to type now but wasn't when you were in the midst of watching her perform.
‘Sweet Spot' gave Kezia's guitarist Luke Thomas a chance to deliver a great guitar solo and all of a sudden we were, breathlessly, at the end of what was shaping to be one of the most impressive and iconic Radio 2 stage performances that the C2C festival had ever had the privelige of watching. Thanking the crowd (‘Without you it's a crap show,' Kezia said…. Classic!), Gill was energised and full of well-founded, confident bravado before exclaiming ‘Keep supporting me, guys, let's go all the fucking way!' as her signature song ‘Whiskey Drinkin' Woman' closed down what was a boundless, energetic and iconic set, expertly delivered with a verve and a passion that I've rarely seen at venue.
With a new album on the way and other irons in the fire across the industry, Kezia Gill saw what an important moment this appearance at the C2C festival was and grabbed it with bth hands, shaking the bloody life out of it for all that it was worth. It's a joy and privilege to watch an artist like Kezia perform when you see that every last moment is going to be savoured. When you know that every lyric has been planned and that every movement has been born out of a desire to impress.
Gill's set at the O2 Arena on the Radio 2 Indigo stage was one for the history books, one to put in alongside Ashley McBryde and Drake Milligan as a real ‘were you there?' moment. When the Netflix documentary team of the future try to work out what moment it was that Kezia Gill crossed over from being a regional talent to one renowned and respected on a national level – this was it and performances like the one she gave today don't come around too often.
Setlist: 1. Dublin's Outta Whiskey 2. Misfit 3. Whiskey Over Ice 4. Country Song 5. Live It Up 6. Sweet Spot 7. Whiskey Drinkin' Woman Venue: The Indigo Stage, O2 Arena, London Date: Saturday 15th March
