I had one of those “Have I been living under a rock?” moments when I first listened to Kelly McGrath’s current EP/Album Kites. With a flawless vocal and a rich, melodious tone, Kelly sets the bar pretty high with her voice and I have no idea why this was my first time hearing her. Having Kelly McGrath on the BST Hyde Park line up is testament to the festival knowing what they are doing, if she wasn’t on the line up, I may have missed her entirely and it’s these up and coming artists that keep bringing me back to BST – the headliner is always great and a legend but it’s the supporting country acts that reel me in.

Kelly McGrath took to the Summer Stage on Sunday 8th July on Eric Clapton day. Being the only female solo act on the entire day, Kelly stood proud on her stage which was met by a large audience of keen fans, curious festival goers and more. Wearing a stunning sea foam green vintage dress, Kelly looked absolutely stunning. Performing all of her songs from her Kites EP/Album, Kelly had the crowd in the palm of her hand, captivating them with her sensational voice and up beat catchy pop country tunes as well as her gorgeous ballads. Emotive songs such as You and Me Today and For What It’s Worth were real ear catching moments, For What It’s Worth particularly being breathtakingly good and a show stopper as everyone stood watching in awe. Songs such as Kites got the energy going and Preaching to the Choir and Written in the Stars got everyone moving and toe tappin’.

People just arriving at the festival stopped to listen, the crowd grew and grew, I couldn’t even get to the front.

Kelly and her band really worked the stage and having been touring Europe this past month, they even gave a fun performance of Three Lions (Football’s Coming Home) to keep up the spirits of the England win during the World Cup.

Closing with the energetic and uplifting tune All That I Want (despite not such happy lyrics), it’s safe to say Kelly McGrath highly impressed the BST Hyde Park audience. She may have sung, Football’s Coming Home but she proved that country music is coming home, home to the UK where it belongs and that includes on the stages of British Summer Time Festival.

Kelly is still on tour in Europe, so please check out her dates below.