Winding down from 2021. The last two years kind of feel like they blended together? Whether it’s the staying home a lot more, back and forth restrictions or just time speeding up (like REALLY speeding up), 2021 and 2020 flew by.
And it was not all bad. Yeah there were some really shitty moments but it’s those experiences that make you grow as a person. The highlights far outweigh those darker days though. So I thought I’d write a little blog post highlighting 5 experiences in the last year (in no particular order either because they’re all amazing in their own rights).
#1 Becoming a managed artist
So I don’t know if you’ve heard but I have a freaking manager now!
Before I go on; I don’t want to sound big headed in any of this, most of the time when things happen I’m as surprised as anyone else!
Anyways. Yes I am now under ZimagineD management by the incredible Donna Zanetti along with Audra McLaughlin and Kezia Gill! Absolutely over the moon and definitely one for the highlights. I can't wait to share what we're going to do together!
It was an amazing journey of self-healing, sharing something new and different with the world and hitting some real milestones/bucket list items.
There are so many aspects to this highlight, the time spent recording, creating the campaign itself with Donna Zanetti, shooting the content and really crafting the whole story to turn something which could have left a bad taste in my mouth into something positive.
#3 BCMAs/Buckle and Boots festival
These have a joint place because I couldn’t decide between the two and the celebrations, partying and quality of music were just so similar it was like a 2 part party.
I went to my first BCMA awards this year! I’ve always missed out on it but this year I managed to get on down there and meet some lovely people, enjoy some really great music and celebrate so many well-deserved nominations and wins. It was great to be back in a room with friends, even meeting some in person for the first time.
I had played Buckle and Boots in 2019, but this year I went as an attendee and it was SO FUN! Great music, great friends, great food. The vibes were on point and, again, it was so great to see friends in person again and meet so many new people.
#4 Shooting a DIY Music video with Tammy
Although we had no clue what we were doing, we had a great time shooting the music video for Worse Than Whiskey and even managed to make something amazing! (I think it is anyways). It was so fun to work with someone who understood my vision and took it to another level with their talent. And it was also a real highlight to have it premier in Maverick magazine, which has been a bucket list item for years!
#5 Two Sold out shows in two days supporting Fargo Railroad Co and Kezia Gill & Jade Helliwell
I still don’t think I’ve fully processed this week yet. It was a delight to play with my incredible band on the Fargo night in Sheffield as well as make a little appearance during their set. And then watch Kezia and Jade to their thing after they invited me to open on the Wakefield date of their Girl Country Tour.
I feel like I came away from both these gigs with lots of new friends and it felt so amazing to be back on stage playing to an attentive crowd who encouraged and enjoyed my music. There’s honestly no better feeling.
Honourable mentions:
These could have been in the list but I had to stop myself somewhere!
Girl Talk single release
Starting my Patreon
Releasing my first co-write with Finola and getting to play it live at Whiskey Wednesday
Getting Whiskey Kisses gigs back up and running
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library launch in Oldham
There’s probably loads more that my overwhelmed brain hasn’t thought of and I’ll kick myself for not including later but overall 2021 has been pretty awesome. Thank you for helping make this year great and I can’t wait to share more moments in 2022 with y’all!
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