Chantel

The great news for rock, live music lovers and aspiring musicians in and around Swansea, is that Chantel will be playing in her band at The Garage onFriday 12 September and put simply; this will be a night to remember and a show not to miss!

Winning four awards in the last three years is indicative of her increasing popularity in and outside of the UK and in an industry where male guitarists have been dominant and received most of the limelight on and off stage, what a refreshing and justifiable change, that Chantel was the first female artist to be voted Guitarist of the Year!!   Chantel has also been nominated for Guitarist of the Year in this years BBA awards! 

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"

You can listen to Chantel playing two rocky numbers from her debut album "Like No Other" in her band at https://soundcloud.com/chantelmcgregoror on a quieter note, you can see and listen to a solo acoustic version of one of Chantel's original songs at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vz97YJDFrg&feature=share and her beautiful stripped back version of Bruno Mars "Grenade" at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKUV4QnR7Ls

I know that Chantel’s presence in Swansea will be of great interest to many local people and visitors, and if you could help bring it to their attention, it would be very much appreciated.

Below is some background information that gives a brief, but intriguing insight into Chantel, and a selection of images that I hope you find of interest.

Some intriguing facts about Chantel

• In January 2011, Chantel played a charity event at Cranleigh Arts Centre, with Paul Jones - English singer, actor, harmonica player, radio personality and television presenter (Manfred Man/Radio 2).  Eric Clapton also played on the same show, just before Chantel.  Please have a look at this at http://youtu.be/MKrq4JkGXm8 and see Chantel straight after Clapton, at around 1 minute 40 seconds of the video

 

• Read the write up on the above charity event at http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/whats-on/music/eric-clapton-pp-arnold-star-4816648 and see the next to the last paragraph, that heaps praise on Chantel

• Chantel did a live session at Maida Vale for The Paul Jones show

• Chantel holds the record for the longest song ever played on Radio 2,  Daydream - from the live session and for the longest live session in a 1 hour show on Radio 2

• Chantel turned down major labels to be true to the music and formed her very own record label “Tis Rock Music Ltd”
• Chantel released her debut album "Like No Other" in April 2011 and it has received some great reviews and is available at various outlets and downloadable at iTunes

• Universal Records, the world's second largest music company, invited Chantel to be part of a 100 Years of the Blues, that has recently been released worldwide and includes "Help Me" from Chantel’s debut album "Like No Other"

• Chantel has featured on a worldwide DVD celebrating 60 years of the Fender Telecaster alongside Jeff Beck, Keith Richards, Albert Lee etc, etc

• Chantel has been featured in many Guitar magazines in the UK, Czech Republic and Sweden

• Chantel is probably one of the most qualified guitarist in the country
• Chantel was involved in the prestigious BBC Introducing Masterclass, broadcast on 19 January 2012 from the legendary Abbey Road Studios, and BBC Maida Vale Studios in London
• Chantel took part in the London Acoustic Guitar Show in 2012
• Chantel is the first female artist to have been voted "Guitarist of the Year" in the history of the British Blues Awards