For those living outside of Nottinghamshire or Derbyshire, the chances of seeing Kezia Gill were probably equal to seeing an eclipse, for although she plays many dates they do tend to be mainly within the county borders which is a shame as she deserves to be seen on a national basis. With long curly red hair and a heavily inked right playing arm she was a striking performer who put in a memorable performance. Kezia ( pronounced Ke ss ia ) was one of the acts that we had not been able to get to see at Buckle & Boots so it was great to final see her and at just the right moment as her new EP was released today.
Her four hour journey to the festival was well rewarded with an excellent set, starting with “House Of Cards”, with big vocals and a huge smile this was an excellent opener. Today was the release of her new EP “Dead Ends & Detours”, the first song coming in the shape of “Girl Of Your Dreams”, dedicated to her husband of 12 years. It is undeniably “slushy and romantic” to use Kezia’s words but I’d also add in personal and heartfelt with her really belting out the “I’m all you’ll ever need” last line in a powerful finale.
From there it was on to the excellent "Coffee How You Like It" from her debut album
There was a cover of Cam’s ”Burning House” inspired by having seen her perform at C2C and hoping that her version would do it “any sort of justice” – it certainly did in what was a spirited cover with plenty of oomph. There then followed a couple of songs that were inspirations in Kezia’s life, the first “Mr Cash” pretty self explanatory, a rootsy song incorporating many of the Man in Black’s titles with a chorus of “I’d really like to meet you Mr Cash” this was good fun. The second inspiration was her Dad who was a singer for 40 years, and his tribute is also on the new EP in the shape of “Local Man's Star”. By her own admission that was a song that she had held back wanting to make sure it was just right, the wait was certainly worth it - “The reason I‘m here, the reason I sing”, the best song of the set greeted with a huge round of applause.
It was to Johnny Cash that Kezia returned in the home straight with a cover of “Fulsom Prison Blues”, the first song that she had learnt on guitar. With a return to her debut album for the closer “Easy Come Easy Go” a rootsy / folk rock finale – this was an excellent set and I’m not sure we’ve even seen all of her talents yet, as she mentioned playing the piano as well – so let’s hope she can get a chance to play some dates in the capital to really boost her profile which certainly deserves to be higher.
Kezia Gill will be returning to Buckle & Boots Main Stage on Saturday 25th May.