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Kerri Watt (born August 22, 1991) is a Scottish singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist from Glasgow. She released several independent singles before signing with Cooking Vinyl in 2019.
Watt's debut album Neptune's Daughter was released in 2021. She has performed as a supporting act for several artists, including Coldplay on their A Head Full of Dreams Tour in 2017.
Early life
Watt was born and raised in a small town near Glasgow, Scotland. At the age of 16, she was accepted into the South Orange County School of Arts[1] in Orange County and relocated to Dana Point.[2] After a year of study in the United States, she returned to London to train at Laine Theatre Arts.
In 2008 and 2009, Watt was an understudy for the role of Cinderella, performing alongside Steve Guttenberg in a two-month engagement at the Churchill Theatre in Bromley.[3] Additionally, she participated in Bill Kenwright's production of Jekyll and Hyde, touring the United Kingdom in 2011 with Marti Pellow. After her time in theatre, Watt transitioned professionally into music.[4]
Career
Watt's single, "Long Way Home", was playlisted on Radio 2's A-List.[5] She performed the song on ITV's Weekend with Aled Jones on June 27, 2015.[6]
In 2015, Watt also released a remix of her song "You", produced by Oliver Nelson.[7][8] The song received millions of plays between SoundCloud and YouTube and reached number 1 on Hype Machine.[9] In March 2016, Watt released the single "The Wild", which was added to the BBC Radio 2 B Playlist for a month. While promoting the single, she toured the UK, visiting over 20 radio stations, and made a live appearance on STV's Live at Five in Glasgow on March 22, 2016.
From July 11–12 2017, Watt joined Embrace on stage at the Millennium Stadium to open for Coldplay on their A Head Full of Dreams Tour. Watt collaborated with Embrace, and "Never" was released as the lead single from the band's album Love Is a Basic Need the following year, and was added to the BBC Radio 2 C-list.
In 2018, Watt shifted focus to writing and recording material in Austin, Texas, with Metal producer 'Machine' (Lamb of God/Clutch).[11] Watt spent the remainder of 2018 performing her new music around the UK at various festivals, including C2C and Country Music Week, and supported artists on tour, including David Ramirez, Curse of Lono, and Tom Speight.[11]
For six months in 2018, while writing her debut album, Watt presented "The Americana Show with Kerri Watt" for two hours every Wednesday on the Scottish radio station Pulse 98.4 FM.[citation needed] As host, Watt interviewed artists including Reef, Chance McCoy of Old Crow Medicine Show, and Jon Allen while also playing Americana music.
At the start of 2019, Watt signed an album and a publishing deal with record label Cooking Vinyl. On July 1 Watt announced that her first single with Cooking Vinyl, "Cut Me Loose", would be released on July 12.[12] The song was featured on the BBC's televised footage of the Wimbledon Men's Final and made several appearances in episodes of the British soap operaEastEnders. The song was also featured in Call of Duty: Mobile for the Christmas season of 2020. Additionally, she released the single "Chasing Aeroplanes" on November 1.[13] It premiered on Bob Harris's Radio 2Country Show. In 2019, Watt supported several artists, including Keith Urban in London, where she joined him on stage to sing Carrie Underwood's vocal parts from his 2016 hit single "The Fighter",[14] as well as making guest appearances for Julio Iglesias at The Royal Albert Hall, Rick Astley at Kew The Music, and Joe Jackson at The Palladium. Watt performed solo and full band shows at Glastonbury Festival, C2C, British Summer Time alongside Celine Dion, and Cambridge Folk Festival, and was the special guest performer at BBC Radio Scotland's inaugural Singer-Songwriter Awards 2019.
The beginning of 2020 saw Watt continue with live shows throughout the UK. In January, she performed at Celtic Connections in Glasgow[15] and as a headliner at the AMAUK Showcase in London, before performing over 30 live streams throughout the Spring. Also in January, Watt performed a special acoustic version of "Psychotic Girl" by The Black Keys for The Mahogany Sessions - Covers.[16]
Watt released her third single "Kissing Fools" on February 14, 2020.[17] In March, Watt recorded an acoustic version of the song for Under The Apple Tree Sessions at Bob Harris' home studio. In April Watt released an acoustic version of her 2019 single "Cut Me Loose" featuring London singer-songwriter, Samuel Jack.[18]
In 2021, Watt released her debut album Neptune's Daughter with Cooking Vinyl. The record debuted at number 11 on the Official UK Americana Charts and was described by Lisa Verrico in The Sunday Times as "an eclectic mix of spooky and sweet...a Quentin Tarantino-style soundtrack".[19] The single had an accompanying music video that featured footage from her time recording the album in Texas and shooting the artwork in California.[20] Later in 2021, Watt was a special guest for Marti Pellow at his two shows at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall and the Alhambra Theatre.
In November 2021, Watt released "Feeling Alright", written with her brother Fraser Watt and two songwriter friends, Jeff Cohen and Jenn Bostic, under the group name Big Kids. The song was used by Samsung for a commercial in their 2021/2022 global holiday campaign.
In the spring of 2022, Watt released a collaboration with British blues artist Mississippi MacDonald called "Devils Chain". In October 2022, Watt appeared as a special guest for Samuel Jack on his UK tour in Glasgow at King Tut's Wah Wah Hut.[21]
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