Feature: in conversation with Georgie

Not always destined for a life in music, Georgie once had a promising career in professional football looming ahead of her. But the sudden discovery of a guitar and her uncle’s record collection whisked her off the pitch and into her bedroom to hone her musical craft.

She quickly mastered the art of blagging her way into pubs underage to play open mic nights, and it wasn’t too long before her relentless graft paid off when her music caught the attention of local hero Jake Bugg, who took her with him on an intimate UK support tour.

Since then she has fulfilled support duties for stars ranging from Blossoms to Jack Savoretti, and was flown out to Virginia, USA to record her debut single ‘Company Of Thieves’ with the legendary Matthew E White and his Spacebomb house band. Blending her British grit with such an accomplished American soul band resulted in a truly spellbinding single that earned Georgie spots on a whole host of watch lists for 2017.

Supporting Jake Bugg on Monday at Manchester’s stately Albert Hall, Georgie still seemed humbled by the support shown for her. With a voice regularly compared to Stevie Nicks, her influences were clear as she story-told her way through life’s everyday in her beautifully husky tones.

Few words were spoken, and few were needed — her voice said it all. The hauntingly relatable ‘Hard Times’ struck a chord whilst gorgeous track ‘This Ain’t Heaven’ was met with admiration for the young singer-songwriter. An unusual acoustic cover of much-loved Dirty Dancing number ‘Be My Baby’ was a smart choice from Georgie, who appealed to popular taste with an undertone of East Midlands grit.

Her girl-next-door vibe is sure to swing awfully well in the music industry, let alone her unmistakable vocals, and she’s surely got a bright future ahead of her under Mr Bugg’s wing.

We were lucky enough to catch Georgie prior to her Manchester show for a quick chat.

How’s the last year been for you?

It’s been great so far! This tour’s been a real highlight. It’s also nice to put some more music out.

Tell us more about the tour?

I went to Europe with Jake too which was amazing. I went to places I hadn’t seen before like Oslo and Stockholm. The UK leg has been amazing too. London Palladium was great. When you read who’s played there like the Beatles, Dusty Springfield… it was cool to get the opportunity to play that stage.

How has touring with Jake been?

Yeah amazing, I’ve learnt so much and seen some great places, met great people. It’s been fun and so far successful too!

Will you be looking to embark on a headline tour soon?

Hopefully, it would be nice! Maybe the end of this year, that would be cool!

Are you getting out to some festivals this summer?

Yeah we are just booking them now, so I have quite a few lined up!

Is there an album on the cards soon?

The songs are there! There are so many songs, so hopefully soon. Could even be this year.

Your voice gets compared a lot to Stevie Nicks — is she a big influence?

Yeah I love her and Fleetwood Mac. My mum brought me up with all that great music. My middle name is Stevie which she picked *laughs*. So yeah, she definitely has been a great influence.

We love the new track ’Too Much TV’ — was it an easy one to write?

Thank you. I’d say so yeah. I already knew what I wanted to write about so once you have that idea it’s just a case of creating some music that vibes with it. Then it can just roll out! Which is what happened with this song. It’s not the case all the time however!

What are you listening to at the moment?

I love what Kendrick Lamar, Frank Ocean, and Chance The Rapper are doing — I feel it’s so ahead of everyone else. It’s exciting and fresh that they’ve taken a great genre and created something new with it, which isn’t easy! I love them. I like Bruno Major too, yeah I’ve been listening to him a lot.