This is an archived post from our old website. Please excuse us if it looks a bit off, we are working through old posts and making sure they look tip top!

Chantel McGregor is a singer-songwriter and one of the most exciting guitarists in the UK!

At the age of eight Chantel became the youngest person in the country to pass a Rock school exam and at 12, she was jamming in her native Bradford and evolving into an incredible musician. Described as a prodigy, at 14 Chantel was told by major labels “great voice, but girls don’t play guitar like that!” Wisely ignoring that advice, she enrolled at the world-renowned Leeds College of Music and became the first student in the college’s history, to achieve a 100% pass mark, with 18 distinctions. Chantel left with a First Class Honours degree in Popular Music and a coveted prize, for outstanding musicianship.

Chantel’s debut album, Like No Other, was produced by Livingstone Brown, who has worked with such artists as Tina Turner, Bryan Ferry, Robin Trower, ABC and Bill Withers and the end result, is a beautifully crafted compilation, that showcases her versatility and genuine talent, as a singer-songwriter!  Jamming on stage with Joe Bonamassa on two of his tours so far, Chantel is a formidable guitar player, a very talented singer-songwriter and her live performances are truly captivating!

A recent quote in Nightshift, Oxford’s music magazine, reinforces this, “Chantel McGregor deserves to be held up as a messiah of blues-rock and given her own mountain, she doesn’t strum or pick her guitar but almost bends and distorts it, as if she’s channelling the ghost of Hendrix through her fingers”
In 2013, Chantel was voted Guitarist of the Year and Female Vocalist of the Year. Winning four awards in the last three years in competition with highly regarded peers, is something to be extremely proud of in itself, but what a refreshing change and a justifiable first in the history of the British Blues Awards, that a female artist was voted Guitarist of the Year!!

In the Get Ready To Rock review of The Great British Rock & Blues Festival at in January 2014, Pete Feenstra stated that “Chantel McGregor arguably drew the biggest crowd of the festival, just as the air conditioning gave out. Her mix of shredding, tapping, blues, covers and ballads mesmerised the crowd”.

Chantel has been nominated for Guitarist of the Year in 2014
http://www.chantelmcgregor.com

Stevie Nimmo Trio – as one half of Scotland’s highly renowned ‘Nimmo Brothers’, Stevie has been a well known and respected figure throughout the blues and roots world for over 15 years.

Now, having toured extensively with the critically acclaimed blues rock outfit over the last few years, as well as taking to the road in a stripped back, acoustic format to continue promotion of his debut solo project ‘The Wynds of Life’, Stevie is now setting out on a new adventure in a full-on, electric, no-holds-barred trio format.
Stevie says that, although the acoustic project is extremely satisfying and allows him to showcase his voice and song writing talents in the perfect environment, sometimes “…you just want to break out the Les Paul, crank up the old orange amp and make some noise!”

Which is exactly what he plans to do and the writing process is already underway and a new album is being planned for 2014.

He is enjoying making music now as much as at any point throughout his 20 years in the business and is fully relishing the fresh challenge of a brand new project.
Don’t miss this chance to catch an artist at the top of his game doing what he does best – standing on stage playing his own music in his own passionate, inimitable fashion.
http://www.stevienimmo.com/

Erja Lyytinen – was born in Kuopio, a small town in central Finland and was raised by a musically-orientated family on the sounds of Led Zeppelin, the Beatles and Deep Purple. She also listened to a lot of pop music, especially Madonna and Michael Jackson. By the age of 15 she was singing and playing the violin with her mother (a bassist) and father, who encouraged her to take up his own instrument – the electric guitar.

A 2010 graduate from the prestigious Helsinki Sibelius Academy, Erja signed her first record deal in 2001 and has been a professional gigging musician for a more than a decade. She has also been tagged as her homeland’s answer to Bonnie Raitt and like Bonnie she chooses not to dwell exclusively in any one particular niche. The blues is her home – undeniably so – but she loves to explore, blur and, where appropriate, transcend the genre’s boundaries.

Each successive album in her 10 album career has seen a growing emphasis on song writing and subtle arrangements – in this case mostly loyal to the originals- to match her mesmerising playing. The Sky Is Crying distils the essence of her guitar playing in the context of a contemporary take on traditional blues.

Perhaps the biggest challenge facing any blues musician is to bring something new to the table and the fact that Erja manages to do that effortlessly while paying homage to the legacy of Elmore James, speaks volumes about her ability.
http://www.erjalyytinen.com

Stray – for a band that’ve never been away, Stray have made a spectacular comeback!

After the albums 10 and LIVE – IN YER FACE, which both received excellent reviews, the line-up of Karl Randall, Stuart Uren (replaced in 2013 by Robbie Stewart-Mathews, and of course founder-member Del Bromham went out on the road once more.

For the loyal, long-term STRAY fans, this was a welcome return to the front line, but STRAY found they were picking up an additional following – a new generation of fans who appreciate good, solid, well-written, well-played songs, performed with that special spark that is only ignited when you get a band who are completely at ease musically with each other, and who know their trade through and through.

It’s no-nonsense entertainment but you always feel there is bit of nonsense never far away!
http://www.stray-the-band.co.uk

Grainne Duffy is a unique talent, raw and powerful, edgy and elegant. Growing up in Co. Monaghan Ireland she gained exposure at an early age to such defining influential artists as The Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac and The Pretenders by raiding her elder sister’s record collection and very soon she was developing her own musical tastes. This began when she heard the subtle playing of Peter Green on such songs as ‘Need you Love so Bad’ and ‘Albatross’ which was to pave the way for Grainne to start listening to other guitarists such as B.B. King, Stevie Ray Vaughan and of course Rory Gallagher. Such a fascination lead to Grainne picking up the guitar and beginning what was to be just the start of her journey. All the while she had been developing her vocal ability by singing in her local church choir and listening to artists as diverse Aretha Franklin, Linda Ronstadt and Bonnie Raitt to name but a few. Growing in confidence she and her sisters formed their first band and began playing the local circuit performing many of their favourite songs and this was where Grainne first began singing and playing electric guitar live.

2011 saw Grainne and her band begin the recording of her second album. Recording took place in Bangor, Co. Antrim at Hillhouse Studios and was spread out over the Spring and Summer due to the ever increasing touring schedule of the band to places at home and abroad like Norway, Scotland, Isle of Man, Holland and Belgium. A much anticipated release for the fall of 2011 sees an album of 11 self penned tracks spanning Grainne’s many and varied influences all brought together by her ever rich sublime vocals and the heartfelt expression in her guitar playing. On this record Grainne teamed up with well known producer and mixing engineer Niko Bolas working from Capitol Studios L.A. Niko’s reputation for working with singers and his experience from working with artists as diverse and varied as Neil Young, Rod Stewart, Stan Getz, Herbie Hancock, Keith Richards, John Mayer, Los Lonely Boys and Melissa Etheridge brought a touch of magic to a specially crafted album. With mastering completed by Grammy award winner Richard Dodd in Nashville the finishing touches to the album were all perfectly in place.

With her passion which no one can deny when they hear her sing, with her emotion which no one can ignore when hear her play and with her unique presence which is hard to express in words when you see her perform, it is difficult to imagine what 2014 and beyond will have in store for Grainne. It is not often a rare honest talent like this comes along but when it does it is instantly recognisable and must be appreciated.
http://www.grainneduffy.com

The Spellkasters – During the nineties drummer Romek Parol and bassist BJ Anders spent most of their time sharing studios and stages with Mick Green under the flag of The Pirates. They recorded two albums, a couple of singles and toured Scandinavia and Europe extensively including a few shows with ZZ Top by their personal invitation.
Towards the end of that decade Mick went on to play with Van Morrisson and Paul McCartney whilst Romek and BJ pursued their own projects mostly with British “guitar slingers” … Eric Bell, Stan Webb, Ray Majors, Huw Lloyd Langton, Ray Minhinnett … to name but a few.

BJ built his own studio in Sweden and recorded & produced records for many Swedish bands and also his own, successful projects. Romek, meanwhile, produced some extremely varied music for major record labels and publishing houses and in late 2007 returned to working live with Eric Bell of Thin Lizzy and later with Stan Webb’s Chicken Shack taking in tours of Poland, Ukraine, France, Holland, Belgium Germany … and even Dubai.

A chance meeting with guitarist Pete Edmunds in early 2013 led to a few studio sessions and it became apparent that a new project – a stomping RN’B band – was the way forward … Romek called BJ and asked him if he fancied putting a good, old fashioned British R’n B band together … BJ nodded his head in agreement and thus The Spellkasters were born…

Pete, Romek and BJ met over a lengthy Sunday lunch in Wales in May 2013 and the decision to cut an album in BJ’s studio in Helsingborg, Sweden was quickly taken.
By the end of June the album was ready and in the can. On the menu, driven by the influences of The Pirates, Dr Feelgood, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Wilko Johnson and the like, is a mix of new, uncut material with some old “childhood” favourites. Record executive Peter Purnell offered the band a deal to release it on his label, Angel Air Records, and the release date of Kastin The Spell is set at 10th February 2014 in the UK….. closely followed by Europe, USA and Japan.

If you like your Rn’B noisy, fast and furious look out for The Spellkasters … coming to blow the doors and windows out at Whitby Blues, Rhythm and Rock Festival!!!!!
www.thespellkasters.com

For more information on Whitby Blues, Rhythm and Rock Festival, the artists and how to book tickets, please visit http://www.whitbybluesfestival.co.uk/index.html or call 01472 349 222

Whitby Blues, Rhythm and Rock Festival
Whitby Pavilion

Saturday 4 October 2014, 2 pm to 10 pm