SHE got her first guitar at the age of three, and this feisty rock chick has not stopped playing since.
Chantel McGregor has had to stand her ground against major record labels to play the type of music she wants, the way she wants to play it.
Described as one of the UK’s most exciting rock and blues musicians, the 26-year-old returns to the Albert Halls, Bolton, on Friday, March 22.
At the age of eight, Chantel became the youngest person in the country to pass a Rockschool exam, the world’s leading provider of rock exams.
Described as a prodigy, she was told by major labels “great voice, but girls don’t play guitar like that”.
Chantel, from Bradford, said: “At the time, because I was about 12, for me it was a bit deflating.
“But then I thought, ‘I’m going to show him and do my own thing’.
“I’ve had quite a lot of record companies that have gone onboard and tried to change me and I have walked away so many times. I’m too stubborn to be moulded.
“They want to mould me into an acoustic-y singer, song-writer, just pleasant music.
“I’m a bit more of a rock chick.”
Chantel enrolled at the world-renowned Leeds College of Music and became the first student in its history to achieve a 100 per cent pass mark, with 18 distinctions.
She left with a first class honours degree in popular music and a coveted prize for outstanding musicianship and she went on to be voted Young Musician of the Year in the British Blues Awards 2011 and Female Vocalist of the Year in the British Blues Awards 2012.
She holds the record for the longest song to be played on BBC Radio 2, has shared a stage with American blues rock guitarist Joe Bonamassa and was featured on a DVD with Jeff Beck, Keith Richards and Albert Lee, celebrating 60 years of the Fender Telecaster electric guitar.
Chantel said: “My mum and dad were always into rock music — Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin and Hendrix. We’d listen to them in the car and stuff like that.
“I was always into Fleetwood Mac. I love Stevie Nicks, she’s wonderful.
“I got my first guitar when I was about three.”
Her debut album, Like No Other, was produced by Livingstone Brown, who has worked with the likes of Tina Turner, Bryan Ferry and Bill Withers.
Chantel said: “I’m working on my next album at the moment.
“For song-writing, I take inspiration from things I’ve seen on TV, things that have happened to me personally, going out on a Friday night, things that I’ve done, normal stuff.”
She added: “Ultimately, the main goal is to play to more people, bigger venues, play more often, see more of the world really.
“I’ve got the loveliest fans in the world. They are really loyal. Somebody got me a birthday cake once, it was made to the exact shape of my guitar with pictures of my album as well.”
So what would her advice be to any youngsters with a dream like her own?
She said: “I think, regardless of what it is, music or art — especially young girls who feel ‘I can’t do this because it’s a man’s job’ — the advice would be to go for it, don’t let anybody stand in your way, believe in yourself, aim for it.”
n Chantel, supported by Albany Down, is at the Albert Halls at 8pm on Friday, March 22. Advance tickets are £11 or £13 on the door, call 01204 334 400 or visit alberthalls-bolton.co.uk.
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