Kizzy Crawford
Kezia Lily Rose Meriel Crawford-Southgate (born 25 April 1996), known as Kizzy, is a Bajan-Welsh singer songwriter from Merthyr Tydfil, 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 but when her parents divorced in 1999, moved with her mother, sister and grandparents to Aberaeron and later Llandeilo 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 and always wanted to  raise her children in Wales. Her father's family hails from Barbados and the family emigrated to Reading in the 1950s. Her Bajan heritage and extended family in Barbados are important to her and she considers herself Bajan-Welsh. 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. In a 2013 press interview she explained: 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'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 Festival, the Sŵn festival, the Green Man Festival, Caerphilly Castle and Maes B at the National Eisteddfod of Wales. Crawford also performed at  Festival No 6. In 2014, she signed to publishing company BDi Music. Crawford appeared on the BBC Wales 6 nations 2014 promotions singing Calon Lân, and in April 2014 was named as one of twelve BBC Horizons acts for 2014-15. She performed her new 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 high-profile festivals including Womex Blissfields, Hay Festival and Cheltenham Jazz. In 2015, she released the  single "Shout Out / Yr Alwad", a co-write with Owen Powell, 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 Football Stadium alongside the Manic Street Preachers. In 2016, several of her compositions were selected as part of the WJEC A Level Music Syllabus - her music sat in the contemporary section alongside The Manics, Gruff Rhys & The Super Furry Animals. Later Crawford was invited to perform and discuss that accolade live on "Woman's Hour" for BBC Radio 4. Later  in 2016, Crawford collaborated with Jazz pianist and composer Gwilym Simcock on a new collaboration "Birdsong - Can Yr Adar", based on the Welsh rainforest within Carngafallt. They co-wrote new music and performed and toured it live with Sinfonia Cymru across Wales and culminating in a performance at London Jazz Festival. 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 renowned jazz journalist Ted Gioia. In 2017, she performed live with BBC National Orchestra of Wales and at  Cambridge Folk Festival. She played a supporting role as PC Emma Jones in the award winning BBC drama "Keeping Faith". In 2018, Crawford signed to Freestyle Records and released her debut 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. Politics. In September 2019, Crawford sang "Calon Lân" with her sister, Eädyth, at a rally in Merthyr Tydfil expressing her support for Welsh independence by YesCymru.