FORMER Kendal College student Nicola Hogg is on a musical roll.

Under her artist's name Nicolah, the talented Barrow-born singer songwriter started 2019 performing in the Section 28 and The Queer State production at Alexandra Palace, went on to play her first headline show as part of Islington Proms and is now promoting her next single Holiday. Since moving from Cumbria to London, she's played Glastonbury, and released seven singles.

Her music is a sum of fresh life experiences about faith, sexuality, culture with a unique and empathic world view. Built on a foundation of classic songwriting, it blends pop sensibilities with an indie spirit. She shares similarities with early Katy Perry, the sweet strum and vocals of Joni Mitchell, and the classic catchy melodies of Hall and Oates.

Holiday - which was mixed and mastered by Warner Music’s Axel Lang and Abbey Road’s Christian Wright - sounds like a summer anthem but “it is both a lament and a celebration of life,” says Nicolah. "It’s a story of hope, hope in each other and hope in the moment."

Nicolah - who in 2018 won the Open Category in the Mayor of London GIGS Competition - starts a whistle-stop tour of Cumbria this month with gigs at The Odd Frog at Barrow on Thursday, September 12; Fredricks, Cockermouth on September 13; Ye Olde Fleece Inn at Kendal, September 14; Windermere's Lake View Garden Bar, September 15; Fell Bar, Penrith, September 18; and the Vinyl Cafe at Carlisle on September 19.

After playing live for literally millions on London’s busy underground platforms, her first single Flow won the 2016

Mayor of London GIGS Songwriting Prize sponsored by PRS for Music taking her to play Glastonbury 2017 alongside

Everything Everything, Naughty Boy and Mullally.

Since, she's received support and multiple airplay from BBC introducing’s Tom Salmon and in August 2018 recorded a live session for his show.

Her last single, Out of the Pie, was featured on She Makes Music, Cougar Microbes and as one of Fresh on the Net’s Fresh Faves.

Nicolah is also a creative youth worker, using music to engage young people and she'll use her song Holiday in a workshop she's running at her old school, St Paul’s at Barrow, encouraging pupils to think about hope and what it means to them: "I’m hoping to inspire the pupils at St Paul’s, but really I think they will inspire me.”