CHANTEL McGregor has been moving in the right circles for sure.

Early in her career, the Bradford-born guitarist was invited to share the stage with Joe Bonamassa, on two of his UK tours.

And when her Like No Other debut album was released in 2011, one critic apparently said that she deserved to be held up as a messiah of blues rock and given her own mountain. They added: "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. The end result was a beautifully crafted first that showcased Chantel’s versatility and talent as a singer-songwriter.

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

The single, Take The Power, from the album was playlisted for five weeks on Planet Rock radio.

A female guitar prodigy at the age 14, Chantel was apparently 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 the college’s Musician of the Year award.

Since, Chantel has stepped out in the pro-musician world and her stunning live performances have demonstrated that she has the ability to perform rock for the new age, played with an effortless virtuosity.

A terrific guitarist, she's also got a voice to match.

At the moment, Chantel is writing for her third album and recording an acoustic album, giving fans a taster of some of the new tracks on her 2019 tour which is blazing a trail across the UK and Europe.

Next Thursday, August 15, the six string ace will play Bootleggers at Kendal.

So, what can the audience expect?

"It’s going to be such a fun night," explains Chantel.

"We’ll be playing the majority of my latest album, a few tracks from the first album and some new tracks as well. It’ll mostly be the rock stuff with the band, with a little bit of acoustic thrown into the set.

"We’ve played in Kendal a few times over the years, its such a lovely town. We really love playing at Bootleggers as it's got such a great atmosphere, the audience is always really up for the gig and we always have a great night."

Chantel loves being on the road and says she's really lucky to be able to do a job that she enjoys: "What other job gets you out and about seeing places you’d never see and meeting lovely people, it's just such a fun thing to be on tour.

Chantel also recorded a live album, Bury’d Alive, in March at The Apex in Bury St Edmunds; it will be released in September.

As for Chantel's third studio effort she says she's heard a few bits from it and its sounding fabulous: "I really can’t wait for everyone to hear it. It’s quite technical when it comes to the musicianship, but we like it to be entertaining too. We like to be quite experimental with things, as it pushes boundaries, so its rock tinged with a bit of Jeff Beck, Pink Floyd and Porcupine Tree.

“I’ve got so many influences, I was influenced by my parents record collection as a child, so things like Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, Jimi Hendrix etc, and then as I’ve grown older, my influences have broadened.

"I tend to listen to anything and everything and try to learn something from it all. I think it’s good for you as a musician to give every genre and style a chance and try to be influenced by them all in some way.”

For further information about Chantel's Bootleggers gig telephone 01539-723824.