Kezia Lily Rose "Kizzy" Crawford-Southgate, sometimes shortened to ''Kizzy'', is a Welsh singer songwriter of Bajan heritage who sings in both English and Welsh, using traditional and modern sources. She began writing songs at the age of thirteen.

Background

Kizzy was born in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, but when her parents divorced in 1999, moved with her mother, sister and grandparents to

Aberaeron Aberaeron (), previously anglicised as Aberayron, is a town, community and electoral ward in Ceredigion, Wales. Located on the coast between Aberystwyth and Cardigan, its resident population was 1,274 in the 2021 census. The name of the town i ...

and later

Llandeilo Llandeilo () is a town and Community (Wales), community in Carmarthenshire, Wales, situated where the River Towy is crossed by the A483 road, A483 on a 19th-century stone bridge. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census the community had ...

before settling in Merthyr Tydfil. Her mother is from the south-east of England but she spent her childhood holidays with her grandparents in Disserth,

Powys Powys ( , ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It borders Gwynedd, Denbighshire, and Wrexham County Borough, Wrexham to the north; the English Ceremonial counties of England, ceremo ...

and always wanted to raise her children in Wales. Her father's family is from

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

. She was educated in Welsh from the age of four and is the eldest of five children. She has a sister, Eädyth, who is also a singer. At the age of 26 she was diagnosed with

autism Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing d ...

Career

Crawford won the Arts Connect Original Singer-Songwriter prize in 2012 resulting in work with Amy Wadge including recording her first single ''Starling'' and its video with Arts Connect's ''Sonig'' - youth music industry initiative. She performed her song "The Starling" live on

BBC Radio Wales BBC Radio Wales is a Wales, Welsh national radio station owned and operated by BBC Cymru Wales, a division of the BBC. It began broadcasting on 13 November 1978, replacing the Welsh opt-out service of BBC Radio 4. As of August 2022, the stat ...

's '' Bethan Elfyn Show'' in August 2013. This was then released as her debut single in November 2013 followed by her EP ''Temporary Zone'' in December, released by Cardiff record label See Monkey Do Monkey. Together with many radio and TV appearances in Wales during 2013, she has also performed live at various venues including

FOCUS Wales Focus Wales (stylised as FOCUS Wales) is an international multi-venue showcase music and arts festival held annually in Wrexham, Wales. It is Wales' biggest music industry event and was first held in 2011. The event showcases emerging Welsh mus ...

Festival, the

Sŵn Sŵn Festival (''sŵn'' is Welsh for "sound, noise", ) is a music festival founded by BBC Radio 1 DJ Huw Stephens and Cardiff-based promoter John Rostron. The festival takes place annually in Stephens' hometown of Cardiff, Wales. The first S ...

festival, the

Green Man Festival The Green Man Festival is an independent music, science and arts festival held annually in mid-August in the Brecon Beacons, Wales. Green Man has evolved into a 25,000 capacity week long event, showcasing predominantly live music (in particular ...

Caerphilly Castle Caerphilly Castle () is a medieval castle, fortification in Caerphilly in South Wales. The castle was constructed by Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Gloucester, Gilbert de Clare in the 13th century as part of his campaign to maintain control of ...

and Maes B at the

National Eisteddfod of Wales The National Eisteddfod of Wales ( Welsh: ') is the largest of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales. Its eight days of competitions and performances are considered the largest music and poetry festival in Europe. Competito ...

. Crawford also performed at Festival No 6. In 2014, she signed to publishing company BDi Music. Crawford appeared on the

BBC Wales BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcasting, public broadcaster in Wales. It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, ...

Six Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Six Nations, branded as Guinness M6N) is an annual international rugby union competition by the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. It is the oldest sports tournament conte ...

2014 promotions singing " Calon Lân", and in April 2014 was named as one of twelve BBC Horizons acts for 2014–15. She performed her single "Golden Brown", and also "Calon Lân", live on BBC Radio 4's Saturday Live programme on 20 September 2014. Later that year she performed at Glastonbury on the BBC Introducing stage and has since performed at several other festivals including

WOMEX WOMEX (short for Worldwide Music Expo) is an international world music support and development project based in Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany ...

Blissfields Blissfields was an annual music festival in Hampshire, England founded by Paul and Mel Bliss in 2001 at Bradley Farm, Bradley, near New Alresford, Alresford. In 2011 the festival moved to a new site in Vicarage Farm, Woodmancott near Winchester. ...

Hay Festival The Hay Festival of Literature & Arts, better known as the Hay Festival (), is an annual literature festival held in Hay-on-Wye, Powys, Wales, for 10 days from May to June. Devised by Norman, Rhoda and Peter Florence in 1988, the festival was d ...

and

Cheltenham Jazz Festival Cheltenham Jazz Festival is one of the UK's leading jazz festivals, and is part of Cheltenham Festivals' annual festival season, also including the Science, Music and Literature Festivals in Cheltenham Spa. Introduction and history The Chelten ...

. In 2015, she released the single "Shout Out / Yr Alwad", a co-write with

Owen Powell Catatonia were an alternative rock band from Wales who gained popularity in the mid-to-late 1990s. The band formed in 1992 after Mark Roberts met Cerys Matthews. The first major lineup featured Dafydd Ieuan of Super Furry Animals on drums, P ...

; the track was selected as the soundtrack to the Visit Wales 2015 National TV & Online Campaign. Crawford performed at the Euro 16 Welsh team homecoming gig at

Cardiff City Stadium The Cardiff City Stadium () is a stadium in the Leckwith, Cardiff, Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales. It is the home of Cardiff City F.C., Cardiff City and the Wales national football team, Wales national team. Following expansion of the Ninian S ...

alongside the

Manic Street Preachers Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Wales, Welsh Rock music, rock band formed in Blackwood, Caerphilly, in 1986. The band consists of Nicky Wire (bass guitar, lyrics) and cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, le ...

. In 2016, several of her compositions were selected as part of the WJEC A Level Music Syllabus. Later Crawford was invited to perform and discuss that live on ''

Woman's Hour ''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946. History The first BBC programme for women was the programme cal ...

'' for

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

. Later in 2016, Crawford collaborated with jazz pianist and composer Gwilym Simcock on ''Birdsong - Can Yr Adar'', based on the Welsh rainforest in Carngafallt. They co-wrote new music and performed and toured it live with Sinfonia Cymru across Wales, ending in a performance at

London Jazz Festival The London Jazz Festival is a music festival held every November. It takes place in London venues such as the Barbican and the Royal Festival Hall and in smaller jazz clubs, such as Ronnie Scott's and the Vortex Jazz Club. It is produced by Se ...

. In 2018, the ''Birdsong-Can Yr Adar'' CD was released via Basho Records to coincide with a second UK tour. The recording was listed as a Top 100 2018 album by jazz journalist

Ted Gioia Ted Gioia (born October 21, 1957) is an American jazz critic and music historian. He is author of 12 books, including ''Music: A Subversive History'', '' The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire'', ''The History of Jazz'' and ''Delta Blues'' ...

. In 2017, she performed with

BBC National Orchestra of Wales The BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBC NOW) () is a Welsh symphony orchestra and one of the BBC's five professional radio orchestras. The BBC NOW is the only professional symphony orchestra organisation in Wales, occupying a dual role as both ...

and at

Cambridge Folk Festival The Cambridge Folk Festival is an annual music festival, established in 1965, held in the grounds of Cherry Hinton Hall in Cherry Hinton, one of the villages subsumed by the city of Cambridge, England. The festival is known for its eclectic mix ...

. She played a supporting role as PC Emma Jones in the award-winning BBC drama ''

Keeping Faith ''Keeping Faith'' (1999) is the sixth novel by the bestselling American author Jodi Picoult. The book is about a custody battle involving a seven-year-old girl, Faith White, who may be seeing God. Plot summary When Mariah White catches her h ...

''. In 2018, Crawford signed to Freestyle Records, and released the album ''The Way I Dream'' in 2019. In November 2021, Crawford released her first self-recorded/produced/mixed and debut Welsh Album ''Rhydd'' with

Sain Records Sain (Welsh for ''Audio'', ), in full – ''Sain (Recordiau) Cyf.'' (Audio (Records) Ltd) is a Welsh record label, which took part in the Welsh folk revival. History Sain was founded in Cardiff in 1969 by singers and songwriters Dafydd Iwan an ...

Politics

In September 2019, Crawford sang ''Calon Lân'' with her sister Eädyth at a

YesCymru YesCymru is a non party-political campaign for an independent Wales. The organisation was formed in summer 2014 and officially launched on 20 February 2016 in Cardiff. In 2022 it became a private company limited by guarantee without share cap ...

rally in Merthyr Tydfil expressing her support for

Welsh independence Welsh independence () is the political movement advocating for Wales to become a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom. Wales was conquered during the 13th century by Edward I of England following the killing of Llywelyn the ...

Discography

* ''The Starling'' (Soig, 2013) * ''Temporary Zone'' (See Monkey Do Monkey, 2013) * ''Golden Brown'' (2014) * ''Shout Out / Yr Alwad'' (2015) * ''Pili Pala'' (2015) * ''Imago'' (2015) * ''Birdsong / Can Yr Adar'' (Basho Records, 2018) * ''The Way I Dream'' (Freestyle Records, 2019) * ''Rhydd'' (Sain Records, 2021)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Crawford, Kizzy Meriel 1996 births Living people Welsh folk musicians Welsh guitarists Welsh women songwriters People from Merthyr Tydfil Welsh-language singers Welsh-speaking musicians 21st-century British guitarists 21st-century Welsh women singers 21st-century Black British women singers 21st-century British women singers Welsh people of Barbadian descent Welsh jazz musicians Welsh jazz singers British jazz guitarists British folk guitarists Women jazz guitarists British women jazz musicians Welsh pop musicians Welsh soul singers Welsh television actresses Black British actresses Basho Records artists Autistic musicians 21st-century British women guitarists Welsh autistic people Singers with disabilities 21st-century British folk musicians 21st-century Welsh musicians