BLUES rock guitarist Chantel McGregor is performing a solo acoustic gig at Coopers in Guiseley on Friday, April 6.

A female guitar prodigy, at 14 Chantel was told by major labels that she had a "great voice, but girls don't play guitar like that!" Wisely ignoring the comments, she enrolled at the Leeds College of Music and became the first student in the college’s history, to achieve a 100 per cent pass mark, with 18 distinctions. Chantel left with a First Class Honours degree in Popular Music and a coveted prize, the college’s musician of the year award.

If you measure an artist’s prospects by the company they keep, then Chantel has been moving in the right direction. Early in her career, Chantel was invited to perform with Joe Bonamassa, on two of his UK tours.

When Chantel released her 2011 debut album, Like No Other, one critic said, “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".

The album was produced by Livingstone Brown, whose production credits include Ed Sheeran, Robin Trower, and Shakira.

Chantel’s follow up album, Like Control, again produced by Livingstone Brown, was released in October 2015 to critical acclaim.

Chantel is currently writing for her third album, debuting some of the new tracks on her 2018 tour which is currently taking place throughout the UK and Europe.