For Kezia Gill, a special tour is underway and she is preparing for her return to The Glasshouse this month.
2024 has already seen trips to Nashville, during which the UK’s rising star of country has not only recorded her next album, she made a special festival performance that was preceded by the day’s opening welcome – from Dolly Parton.
But having performed at the Gateshead venue as a support act and with three of her best friends during their Girls’ Night In tour, Kezia has a first solo headlining show at The Glasshouse in her sights.
“I’m really looking forward to that. I’ve played Sage 2 a few times now. I’ve also had the pleasure of playing the big room there when I supported The Shires back in 2022. Funnily enough, I remember when I was there, I got chatting to one of the organisers and I said, ‘I dream of playing a venue like this under my own name’ and she said to me ‘have you seen the second room?’
“She actually took me in and showed me and said ‘this would absolutely be achievable for an artist like yourself, who’s up and coming, independent’ and I remember looking at it and thinking ‘oh no, it’s still a bit big, you still need a few hundred people to fill this room’. And then low and behold, here we are, it’s happening.
“There’s something quite Shakespearean about the shape, it’s almost in the round, you’ve kind of got that Globe feel for the room, so it’s perfect for this tour, it’s more stripped back, it’s acoustic, and I’m really gonna want to connect with people and talk to people and feel like it’s almost immersive. It’s the perfect room for the kind of show I’m putting on.
“It’s called The Story So Far, because I really wanted to tell people about the journey that I’ve been on as an independent artist, as a songwriter, and tell people about my songs…and it’s going to be a nice chance to sing songs that I don’t get to share that often, maybe even sing some songs that are unreleased.
“It’s very nearly sold out. We went a little bigger with the venues this time, so I certainly wasn’t expecting any to sell out, but word on the street is that Gateshead is getting pretty close.
“It continuously blows my mind. People keep telling me we need bigger venues because people can’t get tickets, and it’s not lost on me how incredible that is, but I have this thing that I just can’t compute it, I can’t believe it.
“It’s very humbling, because I revert back to the girl who was like ‘we can’t fill that room’ and now here we are. “
Kezia’s show at The Glasshouse is on November 24, with tickets available from her website.