In this week's 10 Questions we get to know Kelly Cresswell, a singer-songwriter from the UK

Their song My Regrets is currently featured on the NAS Spotify playlists

You can follow Kelly on Instagram, Facebook, BlueSky, X (formerly Twitter), and YouTube

1. Tell us a little about where you are from.

I hail from North West England; a small town called Widnes - located between the cities of Manchester and Liverpool

I started out in music in 2020 as I was longing for some distraction from my difficult role as an NHS Nurse. I had always had a huge passion for music and have sung my whole life.

I was part of a choir for around six years until 2019 - here I learned a lot about vocal harmonies and became adept at singing in front of audiences. I bought a guitar for christmas in 2019 and began teaching myself to play.

Soon after that I also bought a digital piano and began learning the basics and soon learned how to accompany myself whilst singing.

I realised quickly during this time that I had a natural ability to write songs.

I had always enjoyed writing poems and had tried my hand at songwriting when I was in my twenties but never did anything with it.

Then, well life got in the way - I settled down, had a family and my mind and energies were focussed on being a mother and keeping up with the demands of my job.

I started doing live streams on instagram and facebook in 2020 and my music career progressed rather rapidly from there. With the encouragement and support of friends, family and online followers I was soon eager to start getting my songs recorded and released for people to hear!

I have released ten original songs since 2021 and three cover songs. My latest single 'My Regrets' was released on 4th July 2025 and it has received so much great feedback - I'm absolutely delighted. It's the second song I have released from my upcoming album that I have been busy recording for the past eighteen months - it is my debut album and I am so excited about it!!

2. What inspired Kelly Cresswell to start playing and making music?

I had longed to take up music all of my life. I have always had a huge respect for musicians and a deep love for the arts. I was raised in a home where there was always music playing; none of my family played any instruments but we all loved listening to music and I would spend countless hours as a child studying songs, listening to the complexities of the production, the beauty and meaning of the lyrics and music always soothed my soul.

I spent a lot of time trying to emulate the vocal techniques of some of my favourite artists and learned a lot about vocal control from just singing along to my favourite tracks.

During the lockdown period of 2020 / 2021 there were a myriad of artists from both my local area and from all over the world really, connecting with one another via live streams and specific music groups that were created to keep us entertained and uplifted during the dark and depressing times that unfolded. I gained so much inspiration from these artists and friends that it spurred me on to get my songs out there - just performing acoustic versions of them online initially, before progressing to working with producers to create professional recordings. I am a self taught musician and although I would love to become more accomplished at playing both piano and guitar, I feel I can play well enough to accompany myself to perform and I now play live regularly - often just playing in pubs and small venues doing covers, but occasionally I get the opportunity to share my original music - these are the really special gigs for me and I get such a buzz from them.

3. Who are Kelly Cresswell's biggest musical influences?

Mmmmm I'm am hard one to pin down genre wise

I create what I like, country, pop, blues rock, laid back easy listening, love songs and some indie folk thrown in for good measure too! I love being an independent musician because it means I have full creative control and can create and release whatever I want.

Some of my major musical influences come from fantastic female artists such as Joni Mitchell, Rumer, Carole King, Alanis Morissette and bands such as Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles (I adore their sweet complex harmonies) and my favourite band ever The Beatles!

4. What are your goals in the music industry or as an artist?

"I have no grand plan, I used to think when I first started out that I would like to gain traction in the music industry, but I soon realised that I'm simply a small drop in the ocean of musical talent out there and how very oversaturated the music industry is. It's more about who you know than what you know- I have actually written a song about this subject which will be included on my album, it's called 'Above The Noise'

You need to be a full time 'content creator' nowadays, thanks to the scrolling, throw away, short attention span world we now live in and that's not my bag at all.

I don't have the time or motivation to spend countless hours recording videos and sharing them online - I'd rather play my instruments, write my songs, have a cup of coffee, go out gigging and just share these things online - I'm 45 lol

Some of the most accomplished and talented musicians I know go completely under the radar, so I know that I have no chance of being 'discovered' or being able to make music into a career path - thankfully I have a great career in Nursing that I love and music can be something I do purely for the love.

Joining NAS just over a year ago was a great move for me as I have been able to connect with even more indie musicians and there is always someone within the community who is able to help with advice or direction if I need it. What a fantastic job everyone does on the admin / mod side of things - I'm eternally grateful for being a member."

5. Tell us about your creative process.

I am always coming up with new ideas for songs. The notes app on my iphone is very well utilised for when I'm out and about and don't have a pen and paper available. But I have a huge amount of lyrics and songs written on sheets of paper and in 'song books' that I have developed over the years. I usually start out with some chord progressions that I like, maybe a nice hook, and the lyrics come quite quickly whilst I'm playing them.

Most of my songs are written introspectively and I tend to write about my own life experiences but this isn't always the case. I like using minor seventh chords a lot, as I feel that they add jazzy elements to my music - I love jazz music by the way

I write differently on piano than I do on guitar and I tend to use more complex chords when writing on piano - namely because they're easier for me to play on there!

6. What is your all-time favorite song by another artist and why?

As I mentioned earlier I have always been a big fan of Joni Mitchell - I adore her storytelling and the emotion she conveys through her songs - plus she always had the most talented and esteemed musicians playing with her! My favourite song is 'In France They Kiss On Main Street' - the complex lyrical patterns amaze me and she had one of the best bass players of all time playing on this track (as well as many others) - Jaco Pastorius - my son's idol - he's also a musician and is a rather fantastic bass player and guitarist.

7. What is the best advice you have either given or received in terms of music?

Do it for the love and always be true to yourself. I also believe that with regards to music production, authenticity is very important and that music doesn't have to be overly complicated - less is often more.

8. What is your proudest accomplishment?

I am proud to have started out in music as a forty something mum. I feel that I probably wasn't ready for any of this when I was younger - the life experiences and heartaches that I have experienced have all helped me to become a good songwriter.

Maturity also makes me care much less about what people think of me - becoming a musician and artist in this era of my life has been empowering and opened up a whole new world for me and my life is all the richer because of it.

It isn't easy managing motherhood, working in an emotionally and physically demanding job as well as keeping up with the practice, performances, self promotion, connection and social media stuff that comes with being an independent musician.

I am proud of everything I have achieved but for me, recording my debut album - pouring my heart and soul into each and every song has been the pinnacle of my career to date.

I wanted to create a body of work that I can look back on and say 'I did that'

There's been times when I thought 'maybe I should call it a day' due to being so tired and feeling like I am on a treadmill every day but then I give my head a wobble and tell myself - YOU'RE NOT DONE YET!

9. What's been your most embarrassing moment so far?

I've done a few interviews / podcasts where I have spoken before really thinking what I was saying. I can't explain exactly as there's been a few occasions where I have put my foot in it but hey I'm a candid person, what you see is what you get!

I have done a few live performances too where my guitar has let me down (previous dodgy jack input) and I have had to beg another musician to let me borrow their guitar - which are usually far too big for me to play and I've been dwarfed by them lol

Other than that there's not a lot else to report

10. Tell us about your lowest and highest points in music so far.

Getting radio airplay is always a nice feeling for me. The first time I ever heard my music on the radio was a real 'high' moment. My debut single 'Try' was played on Mersey Radio by Chris Curry and I just couldn't get over hearing my song being broadcast live!

Another really exciting musical high was when I took part in a talent competition in Liverpool for a fundraising event called 'Primal Live' in the summer of 2024.

The venue we played at was huge and due to the nature of the event there were over 500 people in the audience. That is the largest number of people I have ever played in front of and it was an exhilarating experience for me - I performed an original song on piano called 'Song For Zoe' - I wrote it in dedication to my big sister and she was in the audience that night. Let's just say it was emotional.

The lowest point for me was when I was just starting to get into the swing of things in 2021, I had released two singles and was due to release my third and I ended up separating from my husband. It knocked all of us for six and sent me on a real downer, both in my personal life and my musical life too. It was so hard to try and recover from the emotional pain and it took some real soul searching for me to gain the confidence to pick myself up and start writing and creating music again - but I did!

We're all much happier now and all is good but it was a really tough time.