Chantel McGregor - A Blues of The World Festival Acoustic Special

CHANTEL McGREGOR – ACOUSTIC SPECIAL

Blues of the World Festival Month

There are artists who follow a path… and there are artists who carve their own. Chantel McGregor has been doing exactly that since the very beginning. From a child prodigy in West Yorkshire—picking up her first guitar at just three years old—to becoming the youngest person in the UK to pass a Rockschool grade at eight, her story has always been one of instinct, defiance and evolution. By her early teens she was already performing live, and when told by a major label that "girls don't play guitar like that," her response defined her career: she refused to change. Instead, she forged her own identity—one that continues to push boundaries today.

Academically, her brilliance matched her natural talent. At Leeds College of Music she achieved a perfect 100% pass mark—the first student in the institution's history to do so—alongside a First Class Honours degree and awards for Outstanding Musicianship and Guitar. From there, the road became her proving ground. Over the last fifteen years she has built a formidable reputation across the UK and Europe, appearing at major festivals and selling out venues, earning multiple British Blues Awards including Guitarist of the Year and Best Female Vocalist. Critics have long praised her as a performer of rare balance—combining "technical brilliance with emotional depth"—a guitarist who doesn't just play notes, but tells stories through them.

Her recorded journey mirrors that growth. Early releases like Like No Other introduced a blues-rooted artist, while Lose Control began to stretch into heavier, more rock-driven territory. But it is her latest album, The Healing (2025), that truly redefines her. Co-created with Oli Brown and Wayne Proctor, the album has been described as "a simply stunning record" and even tipped by some as an "album of the year." It is darker, heavier, more progressive—layered with grunge textures, unusual time signatures and atmospheric synths—yet at its core lies something deeply human. Exploring themes of grief, resilience and personal transformation, it has been called "unapologetically cathartic," revealing an artist unafraid to lay everything bare. As Chantel herself puts it, this is "definitely a rock album—not a blues album," a statement that perfectly captures her refusal to be confined by genre.

And yet, for all the scale and sonic power of her full-band performances, it is in the stripped-back setting where the true essence of Chantel McGregor is revealed. This Acoustic Special at Barnoldswick Music & Arts Centre offers a rare and intimate encounter—just voice, just guitar, just the songs in their purest form. In a room renowned for its closeness and connection, every nuance is magnified: the touch of the strings, the breath between lyrics, the emotional weight behind every phrase. Here, her playing becomes almost conversational—moving effortlessly from delicate, spine-tingling moments to flashes of the fiery virtuosity that has drawn comparisons to icons like Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan, yet always remaining unmistakably her own.

This special performance will journey through the past, present and future of an artist in constant motion—echoes of her blues beginnings, reflections of her evolving sound, and glimpses of where she is heading next. Because if there is one defining truth about Chantel McGregor, it is this: she is not here to repeat herself—she is here to grow, to challenge, and to redefine what a modern guitarist and songwriter can be.

In a venue as intimate as Barnoldswick Music & Arts Centre, music doesn't just reach you—it surrounds you, it moves through you, it stays with you. One room. Sixty souls. Total connection. This is more than a concert. It is an encounter with one of the UK's most fearless and forward-thinking musicians—at her most exposed, most honest, and most powerful.

Chantel McGregor (Acoustic). Up close. Unfiltered. Unmissable.